A review on Pakistani Drama Comic theatre play, Ismat Chughtai Ki Kahanian.
+ Crew
- Directed by Fawad Khan
+ Note
Ismat Chughtai Ki Kahanian is adapted from Ismat Chughtai’s Stories (2016). It is originally written by late prominent writer, Ismat Chughtai. She was a renowned Indian writer in Urdu, who was well-known for her willful spirit with a fierce feminist ideology.
In this unusual play, all four characters came separately and present individually on stage (one at a time). Each one faced the audience while telling the story with such keen interest.
Ismat Chughtai Ki Kahanian brings strong memories of Chughtai’s classic & nail-biting humor. These stories pokes fun at our unbearable egos, established standards and pressurized moralities. It forces us to consider and accept our realities in all its complexities.
+ Full Cast
- Naz as Ismat Chughtai
- Syed Meesam Naqvi as Ghoonghat
- Nazar Ul Hasan as Chirri Ki Dukki
- Fawad Khan as Amar Bail
+ Plot
It is told in the shape of ‘Dastangoi’ (Urdu oral storytelling art form), perform three of Ismat Chughtai’s stories: Ghoonghat, Chirri Ki Dukki, and Amar Bail.
+ High Points
i – It was always a HUGE challenge for the director how to make this play interesting when knowingly that the only possible way to grab audience attention is by making it entertaining way of storytelling with strong script and knowledge of understanding on which words exactly do the emphasis should be given upon to.
ii – The performance by Fawad Khan and Nazar Ul Hasan was a tie. Although Fawad spoke wrong words in few places including the title (He named the former title). But still these two stars made their mark as the two lead performers.
iii – Whereas performances by Naz & Syed Meesam Naqvi was no secondary. These two performed the best they could and were well received by the audience.
iv – The adapted script was well written which pushed the performers towards the peak of their story telling. Audience was thrilled and the entire auditorium was echoed with hard claps and laughter.
v – The set design was attractive enough where the spot light was placed at the center of the performer. Everyone’s attention was directly focused on the story teller only.
+ Low Points
i – This play was not my cup of tea. Only a certain target audience would be very interested in these kinds of plays and thoroughly enjoyed it.
ii – The Urdu spoken in the play was ‘Khalis’ (Pure) just as it was originally written by the late writer.
+ Overall
Ismat Chughtai Ki Kahanian is an interesting set of stories, told in very comical manner.
Rate: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Mr. Khan's Reviews 