Vinay Pathak in Nothing Like Lear

Courtesy: Unmask Studio

Vinay Pathak wakes up to bad news one day. Out of habit, as he opens the newspaper to savour with his morning cup of tea, bad news leaps out of the pages. He's quick to assure us that it isn't about a politician eating fish during the Navratri festival. He's just gone partially blind. And he's depressed. Because his beloved daughter has gone away to live in another city. He plans a surprise visit to her, only to be turned away by the outraged young woman, who cannot believe he didn't bother to call before coming to see her. He's heartbroken and bitter, and hurls curses at her. This and more.

Except none of it is true. Or maybe all of it is. And in the intermediary space between truth and lies exists Rajat Kapoor's popular clown adaptation of William Shakespeare's King Lear. Titled Nothing Like Lear, the play is a solo act by Vinay Pathak - an integral part of Kapoor's creative team in theatre and cinema - setting and upsetting the audience's expectations.

Pathak in Nothing Like Lear is the darkest of Kapoor's 'clowns'. He's also essentially political without even delivering any suggestive political gags. Staying true to the clown........

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