Singh then transliterated the story in Hindi and went on to adapt it for a full-length (90 minutes) devised play with the same title. The play has only six male characters with no female casting. There are also no adult characters you see and only hear of in stray reference. "The setting is such. The boys go to a madrasa and the girls to a mosque," explains Singh. The overarching theme is of teenaged explorations of sexuality where homosexuality is alluded to, if not talked about in greater detail.

Jitender Singh

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The story, Singh tells us, was ahead of its time and he needed to 'leave nothing out' keeping a more progressive time in mind. "It explores the underlying femininity in men, behind the cloak of masculinity," he says. The only changes made, were purely dramaturgical, of simpler Hindustani over Urdu. "We made the language colloquial to suit dialogue between the boys from the original intricate Urdu narrative. We did not want to change the setting or context. We didn't want to induce any laughter either," he says also telling us about the use of the sets that resemble a Muslim gharana of the time and thematic music.

At times, darkly comical and at others deeply endearing, Phislan, unravels one layer at a time to tell a tale that transcends its milieu. "It could easily be set in the small town UP today," Singh says, reinforcing its timelessness.

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