Munshi Premchand's Boodhi Kaki as Theatre Play

Gandharva Krishna
Jun 12, 2022
2 min read

Updated: Jul 14, 2022

Dramatisation and Direction by Nidhi Buttan at Shri Ram Center For Performing Arts, New Delhi

Nidhi Buttan - Workshop & Play Director

I (@nidhi_buttan) am absolutely delighted to direct Munshi Premchand's masterpiece Boodhi Kaki. Apart from him being my favorite writer of all times, the moral of his stories and their relevance in today's time is heed worthy.

Munshi Premchand

Premchand was a pioneer of Hindi and Urdu social fiction. He was one of the first authors to write about caste hierarchies and the plights of women and labourers prevalent in the society of late 1880s. He is one of the most celebrated writers of the Indian subcontinent, and is regarded as one of the foremost Hindi writers of the early twentieth century. His works include Godaan, Karmabhoomi, Gaban, Mansarovar, "Idgah". He published his first collection of five short stories in 1907 in a book called Soz-e-Watan.

Boodhi Kaki revolves around the story of an old lady, living the last few days of her life. It's only her taste sense that functions. She is left to live in a kothri and her nephew and his family have no soft corner for her. Instead they have hatred for her and she is not even fed normal food, let alone the delicacies she craves for in this last stage of her life. But, something changes! What could have melted their heart?