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Shadi Mubarak Reloaded

By Omair Alavi
Tue, 08, 18

The play bows out with twin shows on final day.

Green Veins’ latest project ‘Shadi Mubarak Reloaded’ wrapped up its Karachi run with twin shows on Sunday – the first one being for students that made young and old laugh with its nonsensical story and plot twists. Just as the name suggests, the play revolved around the wedding of one character, who loved someone else but does not elope on his wedding night because of his strict father.

However, he turned to a friend for help who makes it all the more complicated with his planning and desire to get married. Add a feudal lord, an unmarried phupi, a tharki chacha and a philandering uncle who is dead-scared of his wife and you get a play that keeps you entertained for its 90-minute run.

Bilal Yousufzai as Zubair was undoubtedly the star of the play as he played the normal guy-next-door character; the other characters were anything but normal.

Then there was writer-director Younas Khan’s act as Aashiq Khoro who came, who saw and who complicated things for the audience. Both these actors proved that you don’t need big banners to showcase your talent and they were first-rate in their roles. Mir Aslam Lashari’s Mahmood was the protagonist who had a girlfriend and was marrying someone else, but it would have been better had Green Veins regular Syed Maqsood Sabir done that role. The talented actor was wasted as Arif; Aslam Lashari could have done that and Maqsood could’ve played the hero.

One must mention the character essayed by set designer/actor Asad Gujjar who as Shabbir was amazing, especially when he introduced another character Neha, played by Daniya Kanwal. ‘Yeh Neha Hai, Zubair Ki Behen Jisay Mehmood Ne Shaadi Main Nahi Bulaya, Naraaz Hai’ is something you take back home and whenever you think about it, it will make you laugh. The father of the bridegroom was played by Ayub Khoso’s nephew, Saddam Khoso and he did a decent job.

Erum Ali as the mother, Urooj Binte Arsalan as the unsuspecting aunt, Anna Tauseef as Shagufta and Areeba Chaudhry as Fauzia, the sister were equally effective. Syeda Wasla, the bone of contention between two male characters, impressed with her acting skills as well. Hailing from Islamabad, she must be commended for continuing with the play despite her mother’s passing a few days prior to the show. As for the phupa, Raja Shahid Ali seemed to bring his own version of Indian actor Jagdeep on stage and looked, acted and even danced like the Bollywood legend.

The writer/director Younis Khan intelligently used politicians’ names and parties as commands for the feudal character’s bodyguards and rightfully added the use of Sindhi in the script. There were some pop culture references here and there which invoked laughter all around. It would have been great had they minimized the double meaning jokes as it seemed awkward with children in the crowd. One also failed to understand why all the actors were shouting and that might have something to do with the sound system of the Arts Council’s new auditorium than anything else. The dance numbers, meanwhile, took the drama forward and each and every cast member got a chance to show their dancing skills.

Overall, the play was a success as the slapstick comedy seemed to resonate with the audience who seemed satisfied with this theatrical experience.

Omair Alavi is a freelance broadcast journalist who can be contacted at omair78@gmail.com