Direction : Dhwani Vij Cast : Jasmine, Nagina, Nagma, Zainab
BHAGI HUI LADKIYAN Review
There's a moment in BHAGI HUI LADKIYAN, when Jasmine, one of the four actors in the play, transitions from sharing a funny experience about travelling on a bus wearing a burqa, to a serious prejudice faced because of her attire.
From bus conductors assuming that being burqa clad, she would 'obviously' be getting down at the Dargah, to bus drivers deliberately not stopping for her when she is standing at the bus stop.
It's a vast shift: from casual stereotyping to a seriously hostile move. All within the public space of a bus.
Right at the outset, BHAGI HUI LADKIYAN makes its intentions loud and clear --- that it's going to be blunt. It is going to be authentic. And it's going to be liberating
The four actors standing in a line. Wearing burqas. Their eyes telling a story. And then, one by one, the women remove each other's burqas -- while also letting loose their narratives. At a time when burqa debates sporadically occupy prime time, the theatrical display of women making their own discerning choice to wear the burqa and take it off on their own volition, is powerful.
And then, over the course of the next hour, BHAAGI HUI LADKIYAN shares first hand retellings of day to day in the lives of four women living in Nizamuddin basti.
The play uses everydayness of the narrative to make the lives of these women more relatable. The startling revelations mentioned as just a by the by, make the personal more political.
The performance sees the women share stories about their gendered bodies and their relationship with the self, others and public spaces.
There are powerful conversations on colourism, sexism and the experience of living in a marginalised community.
But not everything is heavy duty. And for good reason, else the piece would have felt too stuffy.
There's light banter on personal quirks, aunty problems and even boyfriend troubles.
Commissioned as a part of Gender Bender 2016 supported by Goethe Institut Bangalore and Sandbox Collective, BHAGI HUI LADKIYAN uses objects, physical theatre, and cartography to devise a thought provoking experience.
Normally, we use hundreds of objects in a day, without giving any thought to their colour. But through colour-coding, even everyday items become a political statement. The green colour, which has been witnessed much vitriol in the media and politics, is reclaimed most beautifully in the play.
The four actors --Nagina, Jasmine, Nagma and Zainab -- all do a very good job, especially Jasmine, who brings out the nuances in the conversations very effectively.
The initial few minutes of the performance could seem a bit abstract to some. But as the performers start their monologues, an immediate connect begins. There's no pretense in the way these four talk. It almost seems that they are not talking to the audience, but rather having a conversation with a 4 AM friend.
Even the stories are carefully chosen to reflect the different realities of women. In that sense, kudos to the facilitators for mining such authentic stories, from so culturally rich an area as Nizamuddin Basti. One can't forget how maligned the area was in the initial days of COVID. But the performance brings forth the humanity pulsating through the bylanes of Nizamuddin.
In the end, using cartography as a tool, the performance aims to show how similar we really are, despite our differences. A beautiful moment of oneness that leaves a lingering sensation even after exiting the performative space.
All in all, BHAGI HUI LADKIYAN is a good piece which is the result of heartfelt grassroots facilitation.
*Divyani has worked as a journalist for The Quint, where she was also among the Founding Team members. While there, she also hosted and produced a podcast and fronted several standups. She's also worked for The Times of India group. She's now a theatre and film actor.
