A review on Pakistani Comic theatre play, ‘Ghanchakar’ (2019). This was the sixth play performed at NAPA’s 2nd Laughter Theatre Festival 2019.
+ Crew
- Costumes Design, Production Design & Directed by Syed Muhammad Jamil
- Written by Maqbool Ahmed
- Lighting by Masood-ur-Rehman
+ Note
Ghanchakar is a directorial debut by S.M. Jamil. This play is a farce of mistaken identities and small lies that balloon in to big confusions.
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+ Full Cast:
1) Hammad Siddiq as Faisal
2) Hassan Raza as Mansoor
3) Shabana Hasan as Komal
4) Fajr Sheikh as Tina M.
5) Farhan Alam as Mr. Irani
+ Plot
A couple of friends, a job is not what it seems, a wife and a beautiful model set up the confusion that must be resolved to retain the job, save the marriage and achieve a happy ending.
+ High Points
i – The screenplay is very well written. Most of the punch lines were original. The play’s tone is balanced by hitting on sex-based jokes without directly implicating on them and avoiding the use of vulgarity. The characters such as Mansoor and Tina M. are very wisely written. These roles were not your common, typical type ones where people might often see them in other plays.
ii – The directorial debut by S.M. Jamil, has surprised many people as they did not have anticipated for this play to be well directed. I am honestly speechless and look forward to his next directed plays.
iii – Though, we have talked about this twice already, for not having a homosexual character in a comic play. But Hassan Raza’s superb performance as Mansoor has made this case an exceptional one. How intelligently, he understands and plays the role to make it a memorable one. He is certainly walking on the path of success.
iv – Fajr Sheikh as Tina M. played the main supporting role terrifically. With every play, her roles as well as performances have been improving by a big margin.
v – Once again, an excellent performance by Farhan Alam as Mr. Irani. His comic performances are so good on-stage that every director should look forward to have on-board for their plays. Other Honorable Mentions: Rest of the cast.
vi – The production design is detailed, arranged with most appropriate props.
vii – The lighting was nicely handled, especially to highlight the beats of the scenes.
+ Low Points
i – In the first Act, the play starts in slow pace with handful of good jokes only.
+ Overall
A hilarious satire of the lies and deceit, Ghanchakar is one of the finest comedies, featuring impressively written script and direction.
Rate: 4.25 out of 5 stars
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