Mayuri Deshmukh talks about her passion for theatre

Zee Theatre’s latest presentation Dear Aajo is a heart-warming, contemporary tale about the bond between an Indian grandparent and his American granddaughter. The teleplay is written by popular Marathi actor Mayuri Deshmukh. Talking about her journey in theatre, Mayuri says, “I was doing my Masters in Theatre Arts from Mumbai University when I was drawn to the playwriting course, taught by the famed theatre guru and playwright Shafaat Khan. It was his methodology and grammar that drew me to the adventure of writing, and this is how the characters of Aajo and Shanu emerged. They are divergent in age, nationality, values, social conditioning and yet they form a relationship that is unique. This was the premise that gave me a lot of scope to build many interesting scenes.”

Though Mayuri had a fun-filled childhood, she lost her maternal and paternal grandfathers when she was very young. Writing about a relationship she missed out on proved to be therapeutic and also healing in a way. She adds, “A lot of people think that I wrote the play based on my relationship with my grandparents, but that is not the case. Unfortunately, I did not get to spend any time with them. I have very faint memories of them…”