Mumbai, November 4, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
National Award-winning singer, lyricist and actor Swanand Kirkire is returning to the stage after a five-year gap with his new musical play, ‘Yo Brother, This Is 95’, which revisits the changing aspirations and consumer culture of small-town India during the early years of economic liberalisation.
Written and directed by Kirkire, the musical is set in 1995 and follows young salespeople navigating a society undergoing rapid economic and cultural transformation. Blending satire, dark humour, folk energy and music, the production explores how rising aspirations and the arrival of consumerism began changing everyday conversations, relationships and ideas of success.
The play is set to premiere at the Prithvi Theatre Festival.
Explaining the inspiration behind the production, Kirkire said the story emerged from a period when India was entering a new world of opportunities, ambitions and consumerism, with words such as targets, incentives and growth becoming part of daily life.
He said economic changes that initially appeared purely financial gradually influenced how people viewed themselves, their relationships and their achievements.
Through the experiences of young salespeople, the play seeks to examine this transition with humour and discomfort, he added.
Kirkire also described the vacuum cleaner at the centre of the play as more than a household product, saying it represents a society attempting to sell, buy and reinvent itself. At its heart, the musical is about ordinary people, their dreams and the compromises they make along the way.
He expressed delight at bringing the production to the stage at the Prithvi Theatre Festival, a platform known for celebrating live performance and meaningful storytelling.
The ensemble cast includes Kirkire, stand-up comedian Aakash Gupta, Garima Diwakar, Chinmay Chandraunshuh, Isha Pandey, Abhishek Kaushal, Ravi Mahashabde, Aisha Chauhan, Sanjjeeve Wilson, Chakori Dwivedi, Apsara Khan and Chinmaya Sharma.
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