[nukkad] Review of 'shaadi@barbaadi.com'

[Harshal Chhaya <>]

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Tip of the day:  What we need is either less corruption, or more chance to 
participate in it.
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Before you write me off as a nut who reviews email addresses, let me
explain that the email address is the title of a play.

We saw the Hindi play 'shaadi@barbaadi.com' over the weekend. Here is what we
think:


First, some nitpicks on what we disliked:

I don't know when the play was released in India but the play's name seems 
very outdated. It may have seemed like a wonderful idea 12 months back when
.com was in vogue. Or it may have been a way to use a unique name for a 
not-so-unique storyline.  Today, it just seems like a lame attempt to sound 
hip.

The background music and songs were out of place and were even distracting on
occassion. 

The token pansy caricature was completely out of place and served no purpose
except elicit a couple of cheap laughs. 

The tickets for the play were *expensive*. But of course, the auditorium was
full. I don't blame the organizers for trying to squeeze the market for all
its worth (especially since no one forced us to go) but I was very surprised
that large groups of people paid $75 and even $100 a head to watch this play.
We paid the bare minimum and didn't regret it at all. The sound was pretty 
good and we had a clear view of the stage.



And now on to what we liked and enjoyed:

The comedy stars Paresh Rawal and Swaroop Sampat. I have seen PR on stage
before but not SS. They work well together and add charm to the play. 

The script pretty much fulfills the promise of 'non stop comedy'. It is an all
out farce with a ton of jokes - visual and verbal.

The story itself is nothing new, dealing with the reality of marital discord.
Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy wins girl's heart, boy
marries girl, girl and boy's mother get along great, girl and boy's mother
don't get along great. You get the idea. 

But the acting and the script make the play fun. Some of the jokes are
laugh-out-loud funny and all the characters have good on-stage chemistry.

The characters depict a Gujarati family but the situations are universal.

We had a great time.

The schedule for the play is online at:
http://www.barbaadi.com/Schedule/schedule.html

If you see it, let us know what you think.

Regards,
Harshal


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