Raja Chaudhary playing the protagonist in the play Toba Tek Singh

At the midnight hour on 15 August 1947, two nations were born- India and Pakistan. There were some who were happy with this and some who were upset about it. Toba Tek Singh is a short story penned by Saadat Hasan Manto about inmates in a Lahore asylum, some of whom were to be transferred to India following the 1947 partition. It was a powerful satire on the Indo-Pak relationship. TV actor Raja Chaudhary is playing the protagonist Bachchan Singh in the play Toba Tek Singh based on the short story with the same title. The play was recently launched in Mumbai. Speaking about his role in the play, Raja says, “Bachchan has turned crazy as his village Toba Tek Singh is partly in India and partly in Pakistan. He doesn’t sleep, sit or eat. He stands all the time.” The play laments that India and Pakistan can’t be a part of the same country anymore. Raja says that he finds theatre more challenging to TV. He explains, “On the stage you can’t have retakes. The actions and reactions have to be spontaneous.” The play will be staged all over India and may also travel to Pakistan in near future. We wish Raja all the best for his play and future career.