Rafta Rafta play review , English play review

	Direction : Tahira Nath and Akarsh Khurana Writer : Ayub Khan Cast : Gopal Dutt, Kshitee Jog, Ahlam Khan, Adhaar Khurana, Hidaayat Sami and others
Rafta Rafta play review

Afsha Khan	Host-A-Performance \| Schedules

Ayub Khan-Din of East is East fame really knows how to put humour into being British Asian and barely middle class. His second play - RAFTA RAFTA - opened to critical acclaim at the National Theatre in London in 2007 and after successful adaptations in New York and in Singapore is now being staged by Mumbai's Akvarious.

Unlike East is East, RAFTA RAFTA doesn't deal with conflicting identities of Indians living abroad; something we've seen done to death in diasporic literature, Bollywood and every crossover movies in the last decade. The play deals with Adi Malhotra (Adhaar Khurana)- a Brit Punjabi boy and newlywed who finds himself unable to have sex with his Brit Muslim bride, Tasneem (Abir Abrar) for the first 6 weeks of their marriage.

One can imagine how tedious it can be as the newlyweds live with Adi's parents (Akarsh Khurana and Kshitee Jog) and his randy little brother (Hussain Dalal) who doesn't bother to hide his school-boy crush on Tasneem. Throw in a community of close knit (supremely nosey and judgmental) characters from the Indian community and you've got yourself a bipolar story that ranges from funny to frustrating situations within minutes.

Tahira Nath and Akarsh Khurana have directed the play with attention to detail. The play involves a lot of scenes within scenes that are coordinated meticulously. This comes through quite well in the beginning when the chaotic wedding celebrations are still on and the women are talking about sex in the kitchen, while the men drink and challenge each other to arm wrestling in the hall.

Akarsh Khurana is funny. He does seem to portray, quite flawlessly, the role of a thick middle-aged man who can't take a hint. Alham Khan as Tasneem's socially conscious mother wears her role with ease despite her many layers - jealous of her daughter, insecure that her husband doesn't love her as much.

Perna Chawla plays Molly, a British woman married to the Indian owner of the theatre where Adi works as a projectionist. It's not a very big part but she does seem to make an impression. She is virtually unrecognizable with a flawless British accent. Brilliant though she was, it did strike me as odd that she was the only one with a proper British accent when younger, second generation characters like Adi and Tasneem, born and raised in England didn't have one.

Given the cultural context of the play, it seemed implausible - an oddity - a Hindu -Muslim wedding. This is a diversion from Khan-Din's original script where the marriage takes place between an Atul Dutt and Vina Patel- different communities but Hindus nevertheless. Akvarious' creative liberties at tampering with the script don't render it unwatchable though. Witty dialogues, good performances and identifiable situations make this adaptation of Khan-Din's play an evening well spent.

*Afsha Khan is a Mumbai based writer and blogger.

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