The big names from the film fraternity included the Bachchan family comprising Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, along with Akshay Kumar with wife Twinkle, Ashutosh Gowarikar and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.
Bus Itna Sa Khwab is originally a Marathi play called Dhyanimani. This play is directed in Hindi by Marathi filmmaker and theatre director Chandrakant Kulkarni.
Vipul is the presenter of the play, Shifaali Shah the female lead and Kiran Karmarkar is the male lead. It also casts Adhir Bhat, Abir Abrar and master Mohit.
Vipul Shah said, “I was eagerly waiting for the feedback of the audience outside the auditorium coz all the cast has done great job and they deserved a round of applause for their hard work. I know for sure that this play will set the bars high for theatre. Since its opening we have seen a great support by the audience and ofcourse our film fraternity. I thank them all for all their love and respect they have showered.”
Shifaali added, “I had started my acting career with theatre. And then TV happened, then movies, then marriage and then kids. And this is why theatre took a backseat for 10 years. Unlike movies, theatre is an excessively demanding platform. You have to be 100 per cent committed here and can’t give excuses like, ‘today my kid is not well and I need to spend some time with my family’. Also in these 10 years nothing great came my way. But now I am ready to give my 100 per cent to it and this is when Vipul and I thought that we should approach Chandrakant Kulkarni, the director of the original Marathi version, and ask him if he is interested in making a Hindi version of it. This was one of the best plays of its time and for an actress this play is a treat. I couldn’t have thought of a better play for a comeback. I am playing Shalini’s character which has got so many layers to it. She’s the most relatable woman and yet she can surprise you. My challenge is to portray her in a way that everyone can identify with her. Imagine, there are pages and pages of soliloquy which I am still struggling with! Also the support that our film fraternity has shown us is just so touching. I am very thankful to them.”
“This play was written by Prashant Dalvi and we had shown 500 shows of this play at that time. When Vipul and Shifaali approached me to direct the Hindi version, I was very happy and immediately accepted the offer. We are planning to make this a national level play and will certainly try to take this to an international level,” said Kulkarni.
