Author: Mr. Khan's Reviews

A review on Pakistani Comic theatre play, ‘Tarzan’ (2016). The project head is Daniah Naz while production assistant is Ahmad Baig. Its asst. directed by Urooj Alfred.

+ Crew

• Directed by Rauf Afridi
• Written by Unaiza Ali
• Set Designer is Javed Yusuf
• Backstage Manager is Taha Nadeem
• Lights & Costumes Designer is Uzma Sabeen

+ Note
Tarzan is a lost human infant who lived and grew up to be a strong, brave man with a pack of gorillas in the heart of the jungle. Originally created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan first appeared in the novel Tarzan of the Apes (magazine publication 1912, book publication 1914), and afterwards in twenty-five sequels, several official books by other authors, and countless works in other media, both authorized and unauthorized.

+ Full Cast:

1. Haris Khan as Tarzan
2. Ahmer Hussain as Modi / Lion
3. Rauf Afridi as Manku
4. Najma Kifayat as Gudgudi Jadugarni / Lioness / News Caster #1
5. Hammad Khan as Jin
6. Faryal Memon as Jane / Ms. Duck
7. Saddam Hussain as Jungli / News Caster #2
8. Unaiza Ali as Story Teller

+ Plot
Tarzan’s desperate help is needed in able to stop new threats to the kingdom of jungle that is Jin & Gudgudi Jadugarni who are responsible in kidnapping and eating the animals. Once Tarzan starts to investigate with his friend Manku, they come to realize who the real mastermind behind this mischief scheme.

+ High Points
i – Amazing performance by Hammad Khan as Jin. This performer demonstrates you how ‘Easy’ it is to perform on-stage (although it is not). In his previous play ‘Qissa Sotay Jaagtay Ka’, there also he performed brilliantly and here too, he clearly showed everyone that he is no less of a Great Performer. His consistent terrific performances had let the audience know well that (if not now but perhaps) very soon he would be given the lead character roles where the audience would be desperately waiting to see him perform.

ii – Rauf Afridi as Manku played the main supporting role superbly. His acting skills show you as to why the level of his performances is so good! After this performance, I feel the urge to see him more on-stage plays. Other Honorable Mentions: Ahmer Hussain and Najma Kifayat.

iii – The play started out well, while placing different animals within the audience or far from the stage and make small interactions with the children. This was continued throughout the play where the performers challenged or asked to the audience for their next move or to look for someone. This was a good decision by writer and director alike. Good Job!

iv – The flexibility, agility of the lead actor Haris Khan with his fitness and good performance clearly showed as to why he was chosen to play the role of ‘Tarzan’.

v – The art direction of the stage is definitely a high point to be mentioned here.

vi – The costumes of the characters were well made.

vii – By naming the villain as ‘Modi’, was a good humor for adults. And as for the children, the names as ‘Jin’ and ‘Gudgudi Jadugarni’ were perfect.

+ Low Points
i – Since this play surrounds the character Tarzan, then many of animals during the performance could had appeared or played a small role in it. I was actually expecting to see some if not many. Only couple of animals was shown during the play such as duck and lion. The team behind this play would probably defend themselves by saying ‘Well, the plot was based on Missing Animals’. Yes but this is the jungle where Many and Different types of animals live. And for children happiness at least, show some animals on stage (during the performance) to remind us that this is a jungle and not Karachi Zoo that we are looking at.

ii – If this play was a proper musical one, with several of songs & dances presented in it. I am pretty confident that this play would have met a much higher level of success.

iii – The character of ‘Modi’ was not fascinating enough as it was for the characters of ‘Jin’ and ‘Gudgudi Jadugarni’. These two characters had some special ability linked with them. Example: Jin had ability to become invisible on his will, Gudgudi Jadugarni had ability of using dark magic while Modi had ability to be strong enough to wrestle with Tarzan and had a very sharp, cunning mind. The character of Modi could have improved if he was given some special ability / power like other two villains.

iv – The characters of ‘Jungli’ and ‘Jane’ were mediocre written. The performers did not have much to perform.

v – My advise to the writer is to avoid using racial remarks / humor. Someone from the audience or media would surely be offended by it.

vi – Honestly I didn’t find the story of this play to be motivating to watch. I can understand that it was kept simple for children but even then the story didn’t pull the audience towards it. It was actual the basic theme behind this play that is ‘Tarzan living in the jungle and helping animals’.

vii – Since this play’s story differ almost entirely from the origin then a new title should be given instead of just ‘Tarzan’. Such as ‘Tarzan: Return of Modi’ or ‘Tarzan: Save the Missing Animals’ etc.

viii – The brochure and the poster of this play ‘Tarzan’ shows multiple animals on it such as crocodile, monkey, snake, owl etc. Kindly tell me, how many of these animals appeared during the play? How many of them? Perhaps two or three… Why other animals were not shown or performed in the play? Point to be noted here that this is a children’s play. Your target audience is children and then the adults / parents come. So, when you are marketing / advertising your play in print or digital media, show the same characters in the play as well.

The reason is that the children would be expecting them to be part of the play. Yes, it is a BIG Deal for the children. My suggestion is that show those characters in your product advertisement only which appear and perform in the play too. Example: Jin, Manku, Ms. Duck etc.

+ Overall
A sentimental tale which lacked many animal appearances and good humor. Still, Tarzan has talented cast to charm.

 
Rate: 3.25 out of 5 stars

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

1. Saad Zameer Fareedi as Chauhan (aka Henry Saunders)
2. Ahmer Hussain as Shaani (aka Max)
3. Erum Ero as Maira (aka Maggie Saunders)
4. Farhan Alam as Alam Rushdi (aka Tito Merelli)
5. Naz as Khanam (aka Julia)
6. Najma Kifayat as Ronak (aka Diana)
7. Shumaila Taj as Mehrunnisa (aka Maria)
8. 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

A review on double feature Pakistani Drama & Comedy theatre plays ‘Exclusive’ as one, ‘Yahudi Ki Larki’ and ‘Sher Khan Ka Makan’ (2017).

+ Crew

• Directed by Khalid Ahmed
• Written by Agha Hashr Kashmiri
• Set Design by Jamil Afridi
• Costume Management by Syeda Maha Ali & Pervaiz Iqbal
• Makeup & Hair Styling by Majid Hussain

+ Music / Chorus Team

1. Julien Qaiser played Harmonium
2. Babar Ali played Tablaa
3. Mahjabeen
4. Hammad Khan
5. Hani Taha
6. Asiya Alam
7. Faryal Noushad
8. Raheel Ahmed
9. Farhan Malik
10. Kaif Ghaznavi

 
+ Note
Choreography by Mohsin Babar while the Assistant Directed by Fraz Chottani

 
+ Full Cast (Yahudi Ki Larki)

1. Akbar Islam as Brutus
2. Nazar-ul-Hassan as Azira Yahudi
3. Marya Saad as Raheel
4. Fawad Khan as Markas
5. Kaif Ghaznavi as Desiya
6. Aamir Naqvi as Badshah
7. Samhan Ghazi as Sipahi #1
8. Mazhar Suleman as Sipahi #2
9. Ashfaq Ahmed as Darbari
10. Faryal Noushad as Junaa

+ Plot
A Roman prince gets arrested because the girl he loves and involved with is a Jew. Due to the fact that his lover does not share the same religion likewise, this is why he is severely punished especially the Jew girl and her religious father on the orders of Brutus. But what Brutus does not know is that the Jew girl’s father, Azira Yahudi knows Brutus’s deep-down secret and the whereabouts of his long lost loved one.

+ High Points
i – Nazar-ul-Hassan as Azira Yahudi played the ‘Key Figure’ role as an old, religious father of Jew girl. He gave the best performance from the team.

ii – Fawad Khan as Markas played the main supporting role as the Roman Prince in disguise of a Jew. He performed as well as the script demanded him to be. Other Honorable Mentions: Marya Saad.

iii – The set design was profoundest.

iv – The musical chores helped in uplifting the play’s interest.

v – Decent job in costumes design / management.

vi – The play’s light humor in boosting the significance of the actors’ performance.

vii – Major recognition goes to director, when performances by almost everyone is well placed.

+ Low Points
i – Regardless of the play’s fame, Yahudi Ki Larki would be considered as one of the weak plays that respected Khalid Ahmed has ever directed.

ii – Most of the characters were halfheartedly written and are easily forgettable.

iii – The first half of the play is tiresome to watch.

iv – In present times, the classic story seems dull and obsolete. Perhaps, modernizing the story a bit may have sort out this problem.

v – It was very hard to keep a straight face and watch with interest. Most of the times, I kept nodding off on consistent rhyming dialogues.

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+ Full Cast (Sher Khan Ka Makan)

1. Farhan Alam as Sher Khan
2. Naz as Fitna
3. Fraz Chottani as Ghafoor
4. Usman Mazhar as Sheeda Khan
5. Hani Taha as Sheeda Khan’s Wife
6. Hammad Khan as Bakshoo

+ Plot
A highly irritated husband Sher Khan who claims to be honest, ‘Man of Honor’ who fears no one… except for his wife. You see his wife; Wali has a high and quick temper which she often releases on her husband Sher Khan but sweet to others. In the neighborhood where husbands are usually attracted to each other’s wife unknowingly to one another. But what Sher Khan does not know is that his wife is already flirting with at least two other men for selfish means.

+ High Points
i – Farhan Alam as Sher Khan performed his role as the most exciting comical character. In most cases, Farhan usually outdid the role that is given to him. The audience loved, cheered for him whenever he appeared or made satirical references.

ii – Naz as Fitna played role of Sher Khan’s nagging wife with first-rate quality. Her realistic performances always win the audience’s hearts. Other Honorable Mentions: Rest of the team.

iii – Praise worthy work by the entire cast members of Sher Khan Ka Makan in playing their roles up to the mark.

iv – The makeup & hair styling did an adequate work to make the cast members’ appearance genuine.

v – The musical chores and vocals helped in gaining the play’s interest.

+ Low Points
i – Stereo type jokes and their characters throughout the play only shows how weak the writer really is.

ii – Almost every character kept talking to themselves (in substitute of voice over) to let audience know what he / she is thinking of.

iii – The play was way too short to be entertained by it.

+ Overall
Despite the fact it is a double feature play, Yahudi Ki Larki is occasionally moving, and suitably ambitious, still it doesn’t live up to its classic source material as Sher Khan Ka Makan did with its childish, silly humor which doesn’t come at the cost of the play’s core.

Rate: 2.75 out of 5 stars