Heartwarming Outhouse Opens 20th Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival

Featuring Sharmila Tagore and Dr. Mohan Agashe, marking the festival’s 20th year of celebrating theatre and life

Hyderabad, November 8: The 20th edition of Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival opened with Outhouse, a heartwarming and humorous film featuring the legendary Sharmila Tagore as Adima Roy-Phatak and veteran actor Dr. Mohan Agashe as Nana Modak. The screening marked the beginning of a special year, celebrating two decades of one of India’s most loved theatre festivals, led by Padma Shri Mohammad Ali Baig in memory of his father and theatre doyen late Qadir Ali Baig.

Tagore, who plays a graphic novel artist living a quiet, retired life, brings her signature grace and poise to the screen. Her gentle exchanges with her daughter, her serene composure amidst life’s small upheavals, and her warmth as she comforts her grandson Neel (played by Jeehan Hodar), all evoke a touching sense of lived experience.

Dr. Mohan Agashe, on the other hand, plays an elderly man living alone, who unexpectedly finds companionship and purpose when a friendly dog, Pablo, wanders into his life. In one of the film’s moments that subtly define the underlying message, he asks, “Hamari apni koi zindagi hai ki nahin?” when urged by his son to move in with them, only to answer him once again asserting dignity: “Akela nahi hoon, apni marzi ka malik hoon.”

The charming intergenerational bond between the child, the artist grandmother, and the solitary senior makes Outhouse a delightful watch. At the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in Banjara Hills, the audience chuckled and smiled throughout, drawn to the film’s light-hearted take on aging, independence, and unexpected friendships. Child actor Neel, who plays the young boy in search of his lost dog, delivers a naturally endearing performance, falling short only in years, not spirit.

Speaking to Gawah, the film’s director Sunil Sukthankar, a noted theatre and parallel cinema filmmaker, said “the movie’s all about respect – respect to elders, children and animals. It is something that we all know or see, but these everyday troubles have become invisible somehow.” 

“Everyone, whether children or senior citizens, have their own life”, he added. Earlier, he  dedicated Outhouse to his late collaborator Sumitra Bhave, who wrote the screenplay before her passing in 2021.

“Sumitra ji wanted to make a film not about loneliness, but about the joy of living on one’s own terms,” said Sukthankar. “She used to say, why must every film about senior citizens be gloomy? Let’s make one that celebrates them.”

He recounted that Outhouse was completed under the stewardship of Dr. Mohan Agashe, who also produced the film after Bhave’s death.

“Dr. Agashe put in his own funds to ensure her vision lived on,” said Sukthankar. “When we approached Sharmila ji, she graciously agreed to come to Pune and shoot. Both she and Dr. Agashe were meant to be here today, but couldn’t attend due to health reasons.”

Recalling his own early days, Sukthankar noted a poetic connection with Hyderabad –“My first film screening was here in 1985, at the Film Festival of India. To return after 40 years with Outhouse feels like coming full circle.”