/> Actor, filmmaker and now producer Nandita Das has kickstarted a theatre and film production company in collaboration with her husband Subodh Maskara. The production house going by the cute name of Choti Productions will produce quality films and plays, essentially what the couple as individuals and artistes believe in.

To begin with the couple will produce their play Between The Lines, a marital drama based partly on their own marriage. In fact Nandita is keeping her little son Vihaan away from seeing his parents bickering on stage.

Says the good mother and the brilliant actress, `We avoid doing our tense marital fight scenes in front of Vivaan. He wouldn't want to see us that way! He doesn't know that Maya and Shekhar and not his parents, are fighting! When aren't in the belligerent mode Vihaan plays around on our set and then goes away quietly. But I want to so cuddle him that I get distracted!`

Playing actress and mom for the first time is a tough job. ` It is tough to juggle my time between being with him and focussing on the play, but then the play is all about that, so I guess it is true to life! Vihaan is mostly at home when we rehearsing down in the hall. But at least once a day he stops by, on the way to the garden and then sees his parents do their rehearsals`

Nandita agrees the lines between her own marriage and her character's are blurred in the play. `When you will see the play you will know how the lines between reality and fiction have blurred. So much of my life and that of others is reflected in it.

It's interesting to see how men and women, those that have seen the rehearsals or read the script, are already reacting to it differently. I recommend couples see it together! But if they get into an argument after that, we are not liable!`

The play is likely to end up as a movie adaptation.

Elaborating on her home productions Nandita says, `Between The Lines is the debut production of Chhoti Productions, a company my husband and I have recently started. Through Chhoti, we aim to tell compelling stories using different creative mediums with an emphasis on film and theatre.

Our creative journey with Chhoti Productions begins with Between the Lines and in its first round it will travel to Ahmedabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata, before returning to Mumbai, as part of the Prithvi Theatre Festival. `


The play also goes to Dhaka! Needless to say, little Vihaan will accompany his parents on this extended drama tour, though he won't be allowed to watch his parents getting into fights on stage until he can tell the difference between what's on stage and what's for real.

Nandita says the play a, sort of staged version of the films that Basu Bhattacharya did on the theme of contemporary urban marital discord in the 1970s, would find a resonance in many current marriages.

`The play is set in contemporary India where educated and affluent couples are caught between modernity and tradition. We explore the relationship between a lawyer couple who have been married for 10 years.

They end up arguing on opposite sides of a criminal trial mresulting in the blurring of their personal and professional lives. The battle in court starts to impact their relationship at home, and they struggle to find a new balance. `

Nandita has co-written the play with Divya Jagdale. `We have drawn from real-life experiences, our own as well as that of other women and men to create a play that will resonate with a lot of people. Contrary to popular belief, I do not come from a theatre background and have worked in only two professional plays!`

Nandita has butterflies in her tummy. `Expectations are high and that is daunting! I am not sure why, but I have made my life more difficult with many firsts ...writing and directing, and then acting with my husband Subodh, who makes his debut as actor and theatre producer! Perhaps to keep it all in the family, ha ha. `