Thursday, December 27, 2012

Hamari Potti ki Shaadi - A Hilarious Play

I must mention that I did one of those out-of-comfort-zone things and went to watch a play all by myself a few days ago. What's the big deal you may ask. The big deal is this - firstly, I don't watch too may plays and secondly, not alone. (My style for watching a play is that I must be led to it dragging and kicking which is not possible if I go alone.) But this play sounded interesting and the poster that Huma forwarded through the email looked promising - 'Khichdi Khatta Kheema Productions invites you to Hamari Potti ki Shaadi'.  The place was Lamakaan which is familiar territory and one where one could lose oneself comfortably especially in the back rows. And the timing, just perfect for me.

Any play with Hyderabadi humour is bound to be funny and I went with my hopes up. Also, the producers and actors were Huma's nieces and nephews so I figured they'd bring in the Hyderabadi humour with a touch of class and some old world charm. They did not let me down and put up a fine show with a funny and well written script that had lots of Hyderabadi humour interspersed with much Dakhani dialogue. The artistes backed their script with strong and confident performances and in my view, they have a good thing going. They are talented without doubt, they worked hard at the details, they gave out a message and they had fun. Can't ask for more really. The future of Hyderabadi humour, (and several other things Hyderabadi in fact, what with Huma writing a brilliant novel with 'The Hussaini Alam House') seems to be in safe hands.

Anyway on to the play itself. It is set in a household in the old city (Moghulpura if I am not mistaken) where three women reside. The potti who is well-educated and working and twenty four and now seemingly too far advanced in age for marriage, her mother who is in panic mode about her daughter's single status and a cranky, capricious and positively wicked granny who lusts after Salman Khan and cares for little else except her own comforts. The father is away in Saudi, working. How the women try to fix the marriage of the girl and how they meet a bunch of 'namune' or aspiring grooms (and their double standards about the bahus they want despite being rather good-for-nothing themselves) is the general gist of the play.

Written and directed by Anjum Jaffery and Danish Zubairy, who also star in key roles as the 'potti' in question and the 'potti's' cranky and unpredictable nani who lusts after Salman Khan, the play has Neha Deshpande playing the potti's mother, completing the triangle. I loved the way the irreverent granny (Danish) improvised on the fly and pulled off impromptu punch lines with the ease of a magician and cannot but help admire the mother (Neha) who did a fantastic job what with the volume of dialogue and the central presence that she had. Anjum was perfect in her role as the educated young girl caught between these wildly fluctuating standards. Abu, Mujeeb and Fazaaz Zubairy play the three extreme suitors who come to see the twenty four year old potti (Danish doubles up as another suitor) and drive everyone up the wall. There is a voice of one other cranky matchfixer who sends these suitors to the potti's house and that dialogue between her and the mother was hilarious.

Good show Khichdi Khatta Kheema Productions and keep going. You have some serious talent.

And while at that, good show for me too for doing one of those out-of-comfort-zone things!

2 comments:

Rajendra said...

Congrats to you, and all those pottas and pottis.

Harimohan said...

Thanks Raja.