Published 20 Dec, 2009 12:00am
After Dracula Ki Wapsi and Mere Anganay Mein, Natak Company's Pyar Biljli aur Amijan was again a refreshing comic outing. Directed by Syed Babar Hassan, the hilarious yet simple script is the brainchild of Yasin Bezenjo and revolves around a few situations that originate concurrently, exposing the characters to abrupt situations.
At a time when comedy theatre in Pakistan is considered to be a domain of cluttered minds going overboard with madcap tricks, Baber's comedies make him stand apart from the rest, and in Pyar, Bijli... his inimitable touch is again strong. The curtain opens to show love birds Sikandar (Farzam Ahmed Khan) and Zehra (Sidra Imam) planning to elope and get married. Sikandar's father Dr Zubari (Zaid Bin Aziz), a psychiatrist by profession, becomes suspicious and wary of his son's mischief and invites DSP Jumani (Asif Chandio) to investigate the goings on. The investigation, carried out in the style of sarkari tafteesh, sends the characters fumbling, stammering and fluttering.
It is an acid test of the director's competence to bring forth something flawless. With this comedy, he blended laughter, deception and situations with fast-paced idiocy and fused them together to offer something new. Syed Babar Hassan also made a brave attempt to play the bumbling but conniving neighbour Aziz Mian, improvising and showing versatility with his voice, confidence and body language.
Impeccable comic timing along with wicked one-liners and impressive facial contortions made Farzam the show stealer. With ample support from satirical prodigy Zain, the duo whipped up laughter and their characters were a pleasure to behold.
The supporting cast of Zar Gul (Faizan Khan) as the cook from Waziristan with his Pushto elocution and introductory punch line “Hum paida hua Afghanistan mein, bara hua Waziristan mein and khela kooda Bajaur mein”, Sakeena (Hira Imam) the maid and Mrs Zuberi (Hina Gauher) also managed to impress.
Besides all the fun, the play does have its share of flaws and glitches. It was loud in places and some setups were just plain annoying. The set and backdrop was a complete miss as there were a number of scenes where the characters had to jump in and out of a window but which wasn't shown practically. Also, the loadshedding scene felt quite stretched.
The script failed to clarify what led Sikandar to marry Zehra secretly as there wasn't any opposition from his parents. Though the humour did filter through, a cut here and a snip there would have sustained the pace of an otherwise cutting comedy.
In retrospect, nothing is more detrimental to good theatre than a dull audience. Fortunately Pyar, Bijli aur Amijan had a crowd that was supportive throughout the duration of the play which, in turn, is more of a hit than a miss.
