A review on Pakistani Comedy theatre play, ‘Aasman Se Gira’ (2016) aka [Fallen from the Sky]. Its Asst. Director is Saddam Hussain.
+ Crew
- Directed by Uzma Sabeen
- Written (Adapted) by Babar Jamal
+ Note
Aasman Se Gira is an adaptation of Ken Ludwig’s English farce by the name of “Lend Me A Tenor”. During this play there is a scene where the get up & makeover of the two lead actors are almost identical. This hilarious moment reminded me of Hollywood’s classic comedy film of the golden era by the name of ‘Duck Soup’ (1933) of Marx Bros.
+ Cast
- Saad Zameer Fareedi as Chauhan (aka Henry Saunders)
- Ahmer Hussain as Shaani (aka Max)
- Erum Ero as Maira (aka Maggie Saunders)
- Farhan Alam as Alam Rushdi (aka Tito Merelli)
- Naz as Khanam (aka Julia)
- Najma Kifayat as Ronak (aka Diana)
- Shumaila Taj as Mehrunnisa (aka Maria)
- Muhammad Owais Mubashir as ‘Waiter’ (aka The Bellhop)
+ Plot
An event manager has to take a decision inviting a popular star to present himself as the traditional hero of the fame folk love songs “Heer Ranjha” for his grand show. As the show’s booking is already a ‘Sold Out’, the real trouble has just begun.
+ High Points
i – The real main ‘Stars’ of this play due to their memorable and untimely comic performances are Farhan Alam & Ahmer Hussain.
ii – Farhan’s character is totally new for me to watch as the characters this actor has usually played are mostly loud, dramatic and serious roles. However, this time his highly comical performance as the iconic character ‘Alam Rushdi’, he might be well remembered by this name rather than ‘Farhan Alam’.
iii – Good to see new faces to watch their performances such as Naz & Najma Kifayat.
iv – Phew! Need some cold breeze here… the seductive performance by the actress Najma Kifayat as ‘Ronak’ was “Hot as Hell”! Her performance reminded me of how Anne Bancroft tries to seduce Dustin Hoffman in Hollywood classic film ‘The Graduate’ (1967).
+ Low Points
i – Having so many good actors & actresses in one play, only the interesting, well written characters with their great performances would come out at the top while the rest of stars would be left behind.
ii – Some of the actors who were given smaller roles, they would be overshadowed and easily forgotten in front of Farhan Alam & Ahmer Hussain roles. Before picking up a good actor/actress for a small role, first write that role as ‘Interesting with humorous Punch Lines’, otherwise its a ‘Waste’ for the great performer to take that role. For instance, Akshay Kumar appeared as supportive role in the Bollywood film ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ (1997). Some of the people don’t even remember him being part of this film. The reason is the same as above.
iii – This time the witty dialogues were less interesting than the previous play ‘Mere Samne Wali Kherki Meh’ which was written by Babar Jamal. Rather here in this play, the performances were more comical than the dialogues.
iv – It was nice to watch Erum Bashir perform on stage but her character did not do justice with the talented actress that she is.
v – All actors/actresses should follow the rule that your dramatic performances in comical situation would make the audience laugh instead of focusing on the hilarious punch lines that are given to you. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. It clearly shows on the performer’s face and action whether he/she focused on the emphasis of the punchline or on the performance according to the situation that he/she is present in.
+ Overall
The combined efforts of Uzma Sabeen & Babar Jamal, bring another wonderful comic play, Aasman Se Gira for the audience to enjoy.
Rate: 3.25 out of 5 stars
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