Chandni Raatein, A Musical Adaptation of Dostoevsky's White Nights Retells The Classic Love Story On Stage

'Chandni Raatein is a love story where there is no toxicity...toxic relationships pe kataksh [sarcasm] mara hai’ says play’s male lead Mantra Mugdh.

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s story, White Nights (1848) has been adapted several times on screen over the decades. It has mesmerised cine-goers and readers alike with its tragic yet formidable storytelling through various reimaginings for celluloid in German, French, Italian, and other languages, in fact, Ranbir and Sonam Kapoor’s debut, Sanjay Leela Bhansali 2007 release Saawariya was also based on the same story. and yet Purva Naresh, one of the prominent voices in the Indian theatre scene, resurrects this timeless novella. The play beautifully weaves themes of love, longing, and fleeting connections, set against a visually rich and evocative backdrop of love through the four nights, for the first time, on the Indian stage in Chandni Raatein (the second play of Aadyam’s Season 7).

Setting her play in St. Petersburg, where Dostoevsky placed his story in a dreamlike, magical world, Naresh has blended its timelessness with music, dance and humour. The costumes are Russian, the language is Hindi with a smattering of Russian, Naresh’s interpretation infuses a new perspective into this iconic story with cultural resonance and a good blend of emotions and humour. Correctly surmising that today’s generation would have no patience for soppy love stories or heartbreak, she has retained the feel of melancholy yearning like in the original.

Chandni Raatein (Photo: Special arrangement)

“White Nights is a timeless literary classic, a love story that appeals to every generation. Love means different things to different people. Sometimes sacrifice in love can seem like losing in love, but the story reminds us that love makes you more humane, kind and gentle. We are narrating it with lots of music and lots of humour, while still retaining the integral melancholia of the story. Beautiful, evocative, Chandni Raatein will make you cry, laugh, tap, dance, sing, clap as you experience a large canvas of emotions,” says the director. “With Chandni Raatein,’ I want to celebrate love and its transcendental nature even in times of darkness. I chose it to adapt into a musical because we Indians love to sing in grief and joy. However, I have not restricted it to just a genre, as every emotion unfolds through various formidable means of storytelling. I hope this universally renowned story receives love in India, and the audience cherishes this jubilant experience,” she further adds.

Chandni Raatein (Photo: Special arrangement)

The story follows the journey of two lonely souls who cross paths over four nights, sharing their secrets, dreams, and vulnerabilities. The play captures the delicate emotions of the original while giving it a fresh, contemporary essence. The adaptation uncovers the intricate layers of love, longing, and fate’s unexpected turn, breathing moments of warmth and comedy. The original story has four characters--Nastenka, her ex-lover, a man she meets and her grandmother. In Luchino Visconti’s screen adaptation, there’s a sex worker and a few other characters that populate the screen and the director has borrowed from both, the literary and screen versions.

Chandni Raatein (Photo: Special arrangement)

The play’s male lead, well-known theatre and film actor Mantra Mugdh plays a failed writer who has strong views on the oppression of the poor, he says, “He is disappointed with this samaj or society because he sees there is normalcy over every problem or issue...people are dying, diseases are spreading, farmers are sitting on andolan [agitation]... it is all okay, everything is getting normalised these days. My character wonders how we can live a normal life around such abnormalities. Through this play Purva shows the mirror to the society, now whether you call it socialistic or the voice of the oppressed or Left liberal stance …you don’t do kataksh [telling the truth in satirical manner] on capitalism but you definitely raise questions. It was a new experience for me to understand these truths.”

Chandni Raatein (Photo: Special arrangement)

Further, talking about how the play points out the change in definition of love and is critical towards toxic love stories, Mantra says, “There was also a lot to takeaway …it is important for love stories to stay alive in times when the paribhasha [definition] of love has changed. That saadgi or simplicity is gone and now everybody is looking for spice in love. Until an obsessive lover chases you and sings 10 songs and crosses all boundaries to get you …we see such aggressive and violent love stories and all that has become normal ...this is how love stories have to be these days. Girls also like all this but bad boys can’t always win, at the end of the day only good things last. Chandni Raatein is a love story where there is no toxicity. In fact, those toxic love affairs and toxic relationships pe kataksh [sarcasm] mara hai. Lot of underlined messages have been conveyed to people.”

Chandni Raatein (Photo: Special arrangement)

For the female lead Girija Oak Godbole, a well-known Marathi stage and film actress, singing and acting gave her a lot of joy. “I always wondered why I don’t get cast in musicals. Finally, now in the recent past I have been part of plays that are proper musicals. But one of the biggest challenges involved in singing while acting is a lot of breath work involved. While acting or saying my dialogues I can choose to interpret in a certain way, there is no right or wrong there but there is certainly right or wrong when you are singing and that too when you are roaming and running around the whole stage,” says the actress, who had to find different tones and give different perspectives to her character Nastenka in different timelines and situations. “Different perspectives have different voices. There is dry humour, then there is a section laced with song and dance, nautanki …the character remains the same but I had to keep changing the character’s tonality and that is the beauty of theatre. The process continues after each performance, you don’t get just one shot or one take, you can keep working on it and keep doing different things. In another five to six shows this play will change and after 10 to 12 shows the play may get more rounded," the actress explains.

Chandni Raatein (Photo: Special arrangement)

Besides plays, Mantra and Godbole have been part of many Bollywood films and television shows but theatre remains their first love. Godbole was recently seen in Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan, The Vaccine War, Qala, Shor In The City and Taare Zameen Par to name a few while Mantra has been part of Panipat, Bheja Fry 2, Game, Tum Mile besides many television and radio shows. “An actor’s life is taken from here and put there. My experiences have grown while understanding each medium and the common thing about all is that you bring a lot from your life,” says Godbole. “I love being on stage and give more time to theatre despite it being the least paying medium and that shows my passion towards theatre. But every medium has its own nikhar. Both are different worlds, different sciences. It is like an ODI, T20 and test match but batting is the same everywhere. Cinema acting is different and I apply a different side of me when on stage, there is a shift in mentality. I get a lot of confidence in theatre through cinema and vice versa. Ek hi thaali ke chatte batte hain [Chips off the same block]...” he concludes.

[Chandni Raatein will be performed at Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Mumbai, on February 15th and 16th, 2025 and in Delhi, at Kamani Auditorium on March 1st and 2nd, 2025]

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