Sindh Theatre Festival kicks off with fun-filled play ‘Ullu Aur Mano’ was a

The 16-day Sindh Theatre Festival got off the ground at the Arts Council on Friday evening with a laughter-filled play, Ullu Aur Mano, a story of two young people whom strange circumstances bring together.

The action takes place in the home of a bachelor who is a writer and also a worker at a bookshop. The play begins with a young woman frantically knocking at the door of the young man’s house and the moment she barges in, there begins fights and scolding.

The woman is for reasons best known to her, in a terribly cranky mood. Lots of acrimonious exchanges take place between the two as she just shouts at him accusing him of having made passes to her and badmouthing her in front of the watchman of the area while the young man stands mystified and surprised at the woman’s behaviour.

He implores her to go away which she refuses to do and continues with her outbursts which mystify the young man. Severe differences take place between the two. Gradually, one can sense the acrimony metamorphosing into tender feelings and while at one stage the man implores her to leave, later he is asking her to stay. She walks out in a huff and is then back.

Ultimately, towards the end, she, disgusted with her fate and the kind of life she lives where often she has to conceal her background and assume a different name, she plans to end her life and wants the young man to do the same. It’s a humorous situation when both contemplate ways to commit suicide together but then come up with the hindrances.

The play is loaded with really comic situations, humorous remarks, and witticisms. It was over an hour of roaring laughter for the audience. While the play must have been a rollicking entertainment for the viewers, it was a profound commentary on our daily lives whereby we are confronted with problems arising from our social norms and the dilemmas that crop up as a result.

Saad Jameel Faridi as the young writer executed his role very adroitly with his very astute delivery of humorous remarks. So was Maria Saad as the young model who delivers her role as a tantrum-struck person really deftly.

The festival is being jointly sponsored by the Karachi Arts Council and the Sindh Department of Culture. Sindh Culture Secretary Ghulam Akbar Leghari performed the opening ceremony of the festival by cutting the tape. The festival lasts up until November 18.