‘Bahut Nazuk Surat-e-Haal Hai’ at PNCA

Revolving around two hopelessly romantic sisters, the play aims to tickle people’s funny bones.

ISLAMABAD:

With the high bar that Anwar Maqsood’s play Pawnay 14 August has raised in the capital, many comic plays will now find it difficult to grab the audience’s attention. However, an Urdu comedy play titled Bahut Nazuk Surat-e-Haal Hai is being showcased at the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) and aims to tickle people’s funny bones.

Written and directed by Faheem Azam, the play revolves around two hopelessly romantic sisters — one who marries a Muslim abroad without her father’s consent and the other boringly engaged to her orphan cousin but wants to marry her handsome lover, who seems happy enough to follow all of her schemes. The sisters’ father is a gun brandishing, huffing and puffing, stereotypical Butt Sahab, who takes pride in his orphan nephew.

In hopes of marrying her boyfriend the younger sister comes up with a hatch-brained scheme that she hopes will not only help her break off her engagement with her boring cousin and marry the man she wants but also help her elder sister and father to reconcile. The orphan cousin, on the other hand, has his own schemes up his sleeve as he plans on grabbing his uncle’s wealth. His acting is a direct hint at a famous TV show host who switches to his evil side when no one’s around. He sneakily plants a spy in Butt Sahab’s home in disguise of a servant (who by far was the most unnecessary role in the play).

Although the play did carry certain witty lines and funny scenes that had many in the audience laughing and hooting, one could have hoped for a tighter script as some of the scenes in the play seemed to drag on. However, Qazi Jabbar Naeem as the lover and Suleman Sunny as Butt Sahab had incredible comic timing during the play. Azfar Jafri played the evil cousin well but slightly over the top in some scenes; but then again the play was complete slap-stick comedy, which caters to a little melodrama.

Unfortunately, the crew overlooked certain tiny details that gave a negative impression. For instance, one of the sisters wore sneakers under a trendy silk shirt that was an obvious mark of hasty wardrobe change, and the mismatch between music and actor’s voices served as technical glitches.

The play continues till November 14 and is good if one is looking for a relaxed evening out.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2012.

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