The Play
The Mumbai Chuzzlewits
By Ayeesha Menon
Sony award-winning writer Ayeesha Menon reworks Charles Dickens 'Martin Chuzzlewit' and sets it amongst the Catholic community in modern-day Mumbai, India.
Broadcast 1 to 15 Jan 2012, Classic Serial
160/44; 196 MB; sound quality excellent
Convinced his relatives are after his money, miserly old recluse Martin Chuzzlewit (Roshan Seth), adopts orphan girl, Mary (Nimrat Kaur), to be his carer. As she will inherit nothing upon his death, he believes she will do her utmost to keep him in good health. But when his grandson Mickey (Zafar Karachiwala) falls in love with her, Martin's plans are thrown into disarray. Disinheriting him, Martin triggers a complex web of deceit, betrayal and manipulation as the extended family and hangers-on close in, in pursuit of his fortune.
Told from the point of view of orphan Thomas (Karan Pandit), an observer into the world of the Chuzzlewits, this is a fast-paced drama full of intrigue, romance, suspense and murder...
Cast:
Martin ..... Roshan Seth
Thomas ..... Karan Pandit
Mickey ..... Zafar Karachiwala
Pinto ..... Rajit Kapur
Mercy ..... Preetika Chawla
Charity ..... Ayeesha Menon
Anthony ..... Sohrab Ardeshir
Joseph ..... Nadir Khan
Mary ..... Nimrat Kaur
Mrs. Gomes ..... Radhika Mital
Louis ..... Rohit Malkani
Doctor ..... Shernaz Patel
Monty ..... Arghya Lahiri
Manek ..... Vivek Madan
Young Mickey ..... Zaal Madon
Young Thomas ..... Nominath Ginsburg
Sound Recordist: Ayush Ahuja
Sound Design: David Chilton
Music: Sacha Puttnam
Producer and Casting: Nadir Khan
Producer: John Dryden
A Goldhawk Essential Production for BBC Radio 4.
Ayeesha Menon is an award-winning writer who works extensively in film and radio. For BBC Radio 4 she has written several outstanding adaptations including: Q & A (Slumdog Millionaire) which won Gold for Best Drama at the Sony Radio Academy Awards; THE Cairo Trilogy, starring Omar Sharif, which won a Bronze at the Sony Awards; My Name is Red from the novel by Orhan Pamuk; and Six Suspects from the novel by Vikas Swarup.
1/3. Thomas, an orphan, is apprentice to the scheming architect Pinto, a cousin to miserly old Martin Chuzzlewit, the richest landlord in Bandra. Drawn into the world of the Chuzzlewits, he forms a close friendship with the spirited Mickey, grandson of Martin and heir to the family fortune. When old Martin gets ill, Thomas witnesses attempts by family members to worm their way into his life and secure his fortune, while Mickey gives up everything in pursuit of love...
2/3. Disinherited by his grandfather, Mickey Chuzzlewit escapes India and tries to make his fortune in Dubai. In his absence, the scheming Pinto and murderous Joseph join forces in an attempt to get hold of the old man's fortune. And while Thomas's feelings grow for Mickey's fiancŽ, Mary, a mysterious lodger with a terrible secret moves in next door ...
3/3. Mickey returns to India determined to show his grandfather he is a changed man and to marry Mary, the love of his life. But, in his absence, things have changed; the old man now appears to be under the control of the scheming Pinto who will not let Mickey near him. And Thomas has fallen in love with Mary... Meanwhile the hapless Joseph loses all his money in a Ponzi scheme. With his debtors closing in, murder seems to be the only way out...
Documentary About the Play - Below
Dickens Wallah
Documentary
Broadcast Sun 1 Jan 2012
Duration 15 minutes
160/44; 16.5 MB; sound quality excellent
It was when the writer Ayeesha Menon was at a large family gathering in Bangalore a number of years back, that something about her large, Indian family made her realise that the whole situation looked surprisingly Dickensian. Then she looked beyond her family to India as a whole "the gap between rich and poor, the unbridled development, the massive social changes, the migration from the countryside to the cities" and it all seemed so obvious. Far from being a vestige of the colonial era, Dickens' novels talk to India today.
In Dickens Wallah - a curtain raiser to the three-part Classic Serial The Mumbai Chuzzlewits, Ayeesha Menon explains the thinking behind her adaptation. We also hear from British playwright Tanika Gupta who adapted Great Expectations into an Indian setting, for a touring stage production earlier this year. With members of the cast of The Mumbai Chuzzlewits talking about their own experience of growing up in India with Dickens firmly on the school syllabus, Dickens Wallah sets the mood for a Radio 4 re-interpretation of one of Dickens' classic novels.
Producer: Nicola Barranger
A Goldhawk Essential Production for BBC Radio 4.
Replies