3 min readPuneApr 15, 2026 07:18 PM IST
Written by Nilambari Salunke
A snowbound guest house, a group of strangers, and a murderer on the loose. Fans of whodunits will recognise the thrill of a closed-door murder mystery while true nerds will think back to Agatha Christie, The Mousetrap.
Now, city-based theatre group Swatantra Theatre has adapted The Mousetrap into Hindi, as Shikanja, promising to bring suspense to the Pune stage. The opening show is on April 18. “Set in a remote location, the play brings strangers together. They are unable to leave due to the heavy snowfall, which also cuts them off from the outside world,” says director Abhijeet Choudhary.
He adds that what begins as a quiet stay soon spirals into a web of suspicion when news arrives of a killer in the vicinity. “As the night deepens, hidden pasts begin to surface. Trust fractures, fear takes over, and every character becomes a suspect. In this house, no one is truly safe and perhaps no one is truly innocent,” he adds.
The Mousetrap is a part of theatre history as the world’s longest-running play. In 2022, it completed 70 years of uninterrupted run – except for the Covid years – in London’s West End. Only one piece survives from the original 1952 set: a mantelpiece clock. So, Swatantra Theatre’s adaptation comes with expectations, and it helps that entry to the show is free.
The team has not approached the production with audience expectations as their primary concern. “We don’t think about whether the audience will like it—we focus on whether it convinces us as artists,” Choudhary says.
He adds that the play is less about the crime and more about the people caught within it. the production reimagines Christie’s iconic mystery through a distinctly Indian cultural lens. “When you adapt it in Hindi, it starts feeling like your own story—your own culture on stage,” he says.
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While the core plot remains intact, the shift in language and context transforms the experience. Elements such as dialogue, costume, and emotional tonality have been adapted to reflect familiar cultural cues, making the story more immediate and relatable for local audiences.
Choudhary points to the emotional undercurrents of crime—particularly themes of anger and revenge—as something audiences may recognise beyond the stage. “Crime stories exist because the emotions behind them exist in society,” he adds. The production is backed by producer Yuwaraj Shah, with Dhanashree Heblikar as creative director. The music, composed by Anvi Deshmukh and Anees, adds to the play’s atmosphere.
Choudhary emphasises that the play goes beyond entertainment. “At Swatantra Theatre, we have always tried to hold up a mirror to society through our plays—and that is, after all, the true purpose of theatre. Theatre is not merely a form of entertainment; it is a powerful medium to bring societal realities to the forefront. It encourages us to think, reflect, and view the world around us from a new perspective.”
