Brief Candle by Mahesh Dattani

Brief Candle by Mahesh Dattani is a play about a group of cancer patients in a hospice who come together to perform a comedy as part of a fundraiser. The main story revolves around their experiences, struggles with illness, and how they try to find joy in the face of death. The title, “Brief Candle,” symbolizes the shortness of life, like a candle that can be blown out at any moment.

Main Story:

The play is set in a hospital where several patients are dealing with terminal illnesses, mostly cancer. They decide to perform a play within the play titled Hotel Staylonger, written by one of the patients, Vikas. The goal of this comedy is to help the patients forget their pain and suffering for a short time, bringing some laughter to their lives.

However, Vikas, who wrote the play, dies before the performance. Despite this, his play continues to be performed, and his presence is felt throughout the story as his friends remember him and his zest for life.

https://www.amazon.in/Brief-Candle-Mahesh-Dattani/dp/0143415670: Brief Candle by Mahesh Dattani

The characters in the real world are facing their own struggles:

• Vikas, the main character, is suffering from HIV and cancer. Before his death, he writes the comedy Hotel Staylonger to make the other patients laugh and forget their pain.
• Deepika is a doctor at the hospice and Vikas’s former lover. She struggles with her feelings toward him, but as a doctor, she remains composed and professional.
• Amarinder is dealing with prostate cancer, which has made him feel like less of a man because of his illness. He finds it difficult to accept his loss of masculinity.
• Shanti has lost one of her breasts to cancer, and this has deeply affected her sense of self. She feels incomplete and struggles with her body image.

The Play within the Play (Hotel Staylonger):

In the play Hotel Staylonger, the characters take on different roles and situations, using humor and absurdity to escape their real-life suffering. The hotel represents life, and the characters’ desire to “stay longer” reflects their wish to live, even though they know their time is short.

Each character plays a part in the comedy:

• Mahesh, who secretly loves Deepika, plays Mr. Kulkarni, a rich man who flirts with the hotel manager (played by Deepika).
• Amarinder plays Mr. Malhotra, a man who desires Miss Unnikrishnan (played by Shanti), reflecting his real-life struggle with masculinity and sexual identity.
• Shanti, who has lost her breast, takes on the role of a beautiful and desirable woman, which gives her a chance to feel confident again.

The comedy in Hotel Staylonger helps the patients laugh and forget about their illnesses for a while. But even during the play, the harsh reality seeps in, reminding them that their lives are limited. For instance, Amol, one of the patients, runs out of money to pay for his treatment, and Shanti’s towel accidentally slips during the performance, exposing her physical deformity. These moments bring back the pain of their real lives.

Ending:

In the end, despite the sadness and suffering, the play within the play allows the characters to live their dreams for a short while. Through humor, they momentarily escape the reality of their illnesses. Vikas, though dead, lives on through his play and the memories of those who loved him, especially Deepika. His message is that life should be lived fully, even when death is near, and that laughter and joy can help people cope with the hardest moments.

The play emphasizes the importance of finding happiness, love, and laughter, even in difficult times, and shows how people deal with the fear of death in different ways【5†source】【17†source】【11†source】.