I am new to theatre in the sense that I have heard a lot but I haven’t seen much. This all changed when I decided to increase my knowledge by becoming a regular at the various theatres in Mandi House, Delhi. It is known that one can always find a play to watch there.
I started with something simple, Yasin Khan’s Hindi play “Ulti Khopdi” at Pearey Lal Bhawan. I never go unprepared to something like this and thus had an idea of the story. The story in itself was nothing new or innovative. What I was hoping for was a good presentation and good dialogues. Although the actors did a good job, I was disappointed with the dialogues. I am not sure if they were improvised or reiterated but they could certainly have been better. When you choose a less than exciting situation and theme, the only way to put some life into the play is through effective punch lines.
The play had a few high points like the ‘dakus’ laughing and the ‘netas’ dancing, but it seemed to drag over the 1.5 hours. The scenes went on longer than necessary, with not much to hold the audience’s interest. If the scenes had been compact, they would have been more impactful. The acting was the one thing I appreciated, though there were moments when the line between stage play and street play blurred.
A play is good only if all its constituent parts are. ‘Ulti Khopdi’ lagged behind in dialogues as well as an innovative way of presenting a known concept. Though the director tried to include criticism of social evils in the play, the comic background over shadowed any attempt at satirical commentary. If praise has to be given, then the actors are the one that deserve it the most. Rating the play out of 10, it gets a 4.5/10.
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