2016 to 2026 — A Decade on the Capriccio Stage
Ganesh festival in Capriccio has always been a grand event. Entire society come alive during this phase. From Ganesh Sthapna to Visarjan - 10 days are full of devotion, energy and fun. The weekends are filled with grand stage events. Not only kids, but adults too, have been rocking the stage since early days of festival celebrations here.
During the first few years of my stay in Capriccio, I was involved in Ganesh Festival activities, but when it came to stage performances, I was happily sitting in the audience.
And there was plenty to enjoy.
Over the years, Capriccio stage produced its own versions of classics like CID, Sholay, PK, 3 Idiots, Yamraaj and many more. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them, with absolutely no idea that a few years later I would be spending Ganesh Festival weekends on the same stage!
2016 — One Dialogue Was All It Took
Things changed in 2016.
That was also the year we shifted the stage area near the H2–I wings. I casually approached Melvyn and asked if there was any small role available in his skit that year.
He was directing Apna Apna Andaaz.
Most of the casting was already complete—and it was quite a heavy cast, in every possible sense! Melvyn, Manoj, Pramesh, Amit, Bala, Sushil, Akshay, Prakash…and somehow, I found my way into this multi-starrer as Anand Akela.
My original contribution? One dialogue.
That sounded manageable.
But rehearsals had other plans.
Someone or the other would be absent during practice, and I would temporarily play that person's character. Over the course of the rehearsals, I think I ended up playing almost every role in the skit except Melvyn's!
By the time of the final performance, I had memorized practically everyone's dialogues.
Those were also the days when we spoke our dialogues live on stage. There was no recorded audio to rescue us. That led to its own memorable brand of on-stage improvisation. 😀
And this is how my journey on the Capriccio stage began.
The same year, I performed the Men's Fashion Show, something I never missed since then.
Jyoti and I also walked together in the iconic Couples' Fashion Show that year as Dharmendra - Hema Malini.
2017 — Enter Mussadilal
In 2017, Amit gave me the role of Mussadilal in his Wahi Office Office skit.
By then, stage performances had started becoming an expected part of Ganesh Festival for me rather than an accidental adventure.
And then came 2018.
2018 — Actor, Actor… and Director
2018 remains one of my busiest years on the Capriccio stage.
I acted in two skits - Andheri Raat, Dracula ke Saath and Rack De! Wakad
and, for the first time, directed one.
My first direction was Excel Women, featuring two Sanyas, two Vedants and Kritnu.
It was a small production, but it will always remain special to me.
It was also among the early Capriccio skits where we experimented with recorded dialogue audio.
And while we are documenting rare events, I should mention another one.
That year, I was also part of the group song Chappa Chappa during Musical Night.
My only serious contribution to singing on the Capriccio stage till date!
2019 — Prime Time
In 2019, I directed and acted in Prime Time, another multi-starrer—this time structured as a chaotic television debate show. I was lucky to have those directors as actors in whose skits I acted earlier, along with other wonderful performers.
That year also included something even rarer:
My first—and so far only—dance performance.
I had the privilege of dancing alongside Capriccio legends such as Nilesh, Pramesh and Manoj.
Apparently, the audience liked The Gang. They liked it enough that we performed it twice on the same night.
2020–21 — When the Stage Disappeared
Then came 2020.
COVID brought the stage events to a sudden stop.
But Capriccio being Capriccio, we found another way.
Instead of stage performances, we experimented with online videos during the lockdown.
The format changed.
The enthusiasm didn't.
2022 — Stage 2.0
The stage returned in 2022, and with it began a new phase of Capriccio performances.
I played Bijal Dev in BaluDahi, which also brought me together with Shivgami Devi Jyoti for the first time in a skit.
The character had some rather distinctive hand movements.
There was a very authentic reason for that—I had fractured my hand shortly before the event and had actually practiced much of the role with a plaster!
Even the character's slightly awkward walk wasn't really acting. That came courtesy of a shoe bite.
The Men's Fashion Show also returned with a bang that year with a Mahabharat theme.
2023 — The Family Takes the Stage
2023 gave me another special memory.
Melvyn's Rajni Khole Raaz skit brought my entire family together on stage in a single skit for the first and only time till date. You'll need to see it to know how Rajnikant, Mahabharat and Vikram-Vetal - all came together in one skit!
I got to play the iconic Shakuni—with a get-up that made me almost unrecognizable.
The same year also featured an Office theme and a Shiva theme in the Men's Fashion Show.
2024 — From Fashion Show to Full-Blown Production
After the pandemic, the Men's Fashion Show kept getting more ambitious every year.
Then came 2024.
The Nilesh Rege show now transformed into a full-fledged production combining skit, dance and fashion show.
The result was:
Malaika Ka Swayamwar
It created a format that has continued ever since.
My contribution in that show included briefly becoming the famous Angrezo ke Zamaane ka Jailor from Sholay, and my real sadness of losing Malaika!
2025 — Lagaan Comes to Capriccio
In 2025, Lagaan returned.
Not to Champaner.
To Capriccio.
I got to play Kachra, complete with the famous hat-trick.
For anyone who grew up watching Lagaan, getting to recreate those moments—even in our own Capriccio style—was great fun.
2026 — Becoming a Villain
And finally, we arrive at 2026 - One evening, 60 mins, 3 Get ups
This year's The Villain Story gave me one of my most intense characters so far—the iconic Ashutosh Rana's character from Sangharsh.
And ten years after our first Couples' Fashion Show, Jyoti and I returned to the stage together for it again. A decade later, we managed to recreate some of that old spark.
But there was another little connection this year that I particularly loved.
My first performance in 2016 was directed by Melvyn.
My latest one in 2026 was directed by his daughter, Khushi.
Two generations.
The same stage.
Life does have a nice way of coming full circle.
More Than Just Performances
It has now been more than a decade and I can still remember those early Apna Apna Andaaz rehearsals.
Since then, I have been fortunate to share the Capriccio stage with more than 25 wonderful actors, along with directors and friends who make these performances possible.
The days leading up to the events are rarely peaceful.
There are hectic rehearsals.
Forgotten dialogues.
Last-minute changes.
Yet somehow, every year, everything comes together when the lights come on.
And that chaos has created some wonderful memories.
Looking back, the stage has given me much more than performances.
Standing in front of a large audience year after year has made me far more confident—not just on stage, but in facing many other situations in life.
It has also created friendships, inside jokes and memories that would simply not have existed otherwise.
We are fortunate to live in a community that gives us this platform every year.
And perhaps even more fortunate to have an audience that doesn't merely tolerate our crazy ideas, but actually waits to see what we will come up with next.
So after ten years, dozens of characters, a bit of acting, some direction, exactly one serious singing attempt, one surprisingly successful dance performance, and countless rehearsals…
there is really only one thing left to say:
Let the lights return next year. 🎭
🎬 Watch the Performances
Many of these performances have thankfully been recorded over the years.
The complete collection can be watched here:
Capriccio Stage Performances — YouTube Playlist
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