Jun 18 2026 to Jun 18 2026 7 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

Language: Hindi & Marwadi

Two greedy merchants discover their wives are pregnant, and promise their unborn children to each other in marriage. Both have daughters, but one is secretly raised as a son. The betrothed are married in the traditions of their rural Rajasthani home. What happens on the wedding night, when the truth is revealed? 

Dohri Zindagi is based on a short story by Padmashri Vijaydaan Detha, celebrated storyteller of rural Rajasthan, and was adapted for stage by Neha Singh. Directed by Gurleen Judge and Neha Singh, produced by Rahi Theatre, this play received the Gender Bender Grant by Sandbox Collective, The Ladies Finger and Goethe Institut Bangalore in 2016, and in the decade since has travelled to prestigious festivals, platforms, educational institutions and queer-led campaigns across the country.

Supported by:

Artists

Neha Singh
Producer, Adaptation & Actor
Neha Singh is a theatre producer, director, playwright, actor, teacher and trainer. She runs Rahi Theatre Company and has created shows like Dohri Zindagi, Jhalkari, and Dharavi Dreams, to name a few. She has worked for three years with the NCPA with their Connections Theatre Festival for young audiences as a playwright and director. Neha is also an author and writes for young readers as well as adults. She has twenty published titles to her name, winning various awards and nominations.

Neha began the Why Loiter Campaign in 2014 to encourage women to reclaim public spaces by loitering.  She works as a theatre, storytelling and gender sensitization trainer with organisations like Point of View, Parcham, Guftagu, Men Against Violence and Abuse, CREA, The Y.P. Foundation, The GenderLab, The Dharavi Dream Project, Ektara Publications. She was chosen as one of the hundred most influential women in the world by BBC for her work at Why Loiter in 2016 and as one of forty Angels of Mumbai by the Free Press Journal of India in 2022.

Kewal Kartik
Actor
Kewal Kartik is an actor from the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan, currently based in Mumbai. He holds a Diploma in Dramatic Arts from Madhya Pradesh School of Drama, and a three years long professional diploma in acting from Intercultural theater institute, Singapore. He has also completed a year-long internship under MPSD, Bhopal where he created and directed several original works.
He has traveled and worked with various theater groups across India, such as Rangrez Theater Productions,  Breathing Space- The Drama Company and Auroville theatre company, Mandali Talkies, Jubilee Theatre Productions and Rahi theatre productions. In the last thirteen years Kewal has worked in more than forty plays, several films and web series as an actor. He has also directed twelve plays himself.

Bharati Perwani
Actor
Bharati Perwani is a Mumbai-based actor and theatre practitioner who has been actively working across theatre and cinema. Her journey as a performer began with stage work and intensive theatre training across different parts of India. She has trained at various theatre spaces and institutions including MPSD and Sopanam, working with directors and theatre practitioners from diverse cultural and performance backgrounds.

Over the years, she has been part of multiple productions ranging from contemporary plays to devised performances, exploring stories rooted in human emotions, social realities, and regional identities. Alongside theatre, Bharati has also been gradually expanding her work into film and digital storytelling. As a performer, she believes in constantly unlearning and rediscovering the craft through observation, collaboration, and lived experiences. Her work is deeply influenced by Indian theatre traditions, realism, and everyday human behaviour.

Sambita De
Assistant Director & Production Manager
Samhita De is an artist, performer, writer and director exploring theatre, film and voice. Her work blends imagination, honesty, and emotional depth across stage, screen and collaborative storytelling practices.

Sanjeet Oberoi
Sound Operator & Production Manager
Sanjeet Oberoi is a media professional with hands on experience in films, ads, theatre, and advertising. He has worked as assistant director, post production assistant, theatre practitioner and brand services executive across diverse storytelling formats.

Lekha Naidu
Light Designer & Operator
Lekha lives in Bangalore and takes on several arts and performance-related roles.  Currently, her focus is on lighting design.

Anindya Gupta
Production Assistant
Anindya is a theatre practitioner and an interdisciplinary visual artist, working with site specific designs, keeping ecology, sustainability and rituals at the centre of it all.