22nd March – 5th April 2015, BBC Radio 4
A three-part dramatisation of Rohinton Mistry’s acclaimed novel set in India.
Two tailors – uncle and nephew, Ishvar and Om – come to the city to escape from the caste violence in their native village. They are employed by a Parsi woman, Dina Dalal, who runs a sweatshop from her apartment and is struggling to preserve her independence. She has a lodger too – a reluctant student, Maneck, from the mountains.
As their initial suspicion of each other turns to friendship and then love, their lives take dramatic and often shocking turns against a backdrop of India in crisis, during “the Emergency” of the mid-1970s – a period marked by political unrest and human rights violations.
A comedy, a tragedy, and a story of the triumph of the human spirit under inhuman conditions.
Dramatised by Ayeesha Menon and Kewel Karim from the novel by Rohinton Mistry.
On director John Dryden’s “sumptuous” production:
“He builds these incredibly complex sound worlds. He breaks the rules of radio but, despite the complexity, the audience is not lost.” Read the full article here
Available on BBC iPlayer:
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
CAST
Dina – Shernaz Patel
Ishvar – Kenneth Desai
Om – Anand Tiwari
Maneck – Neil Bhoopalam
Rustom – Zafar Karachiwala
Ibrahim – Rajit Kapur
The Thakur – Jayant Kripalaini
Ashraf - Darshan Jariwala
Nusswan – Farid Currim
Beggarmaster – Ankur Vikal
Worm – Namit Das
Rajaram – Jaimini Pathak
Ruby – Anahita Uberoi
Narayan – Vivek Madan
Young Dina – Tirtha Kotrial
Young Ishvar – Eshan Savla
Young Narayan – Samar Uraizee
Ensemble – Jim Sarbh, Abhishek Saha, Meherangiz Acharya-Dar, Faezeh Jalali, Shivani Tanksale, Nadir Khan.
PRODUCTION:
Music – Sacha Putnam
Sound Design – Steve Bond
Production Manager – Niloufer Sagar
Producer – Nadir Khan
Dramatised by Ayeesha Menon and Kewel Karim from the novel A FINE BALANCE by Rohinton Mistry
Director – John Dryden
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4
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