HYDERABAD: It was interesting to see old French play ‘The Miser’ by the playwright Moliere reincarnated on the stage as a local adaption in Dakhni.
Performed brilliantly, it made the audience stayed glued to their seats for 105 minutes. The play ‘Kanjoos MakhiCHOOSE’ performed by Sutradhar at Lamkaan, was about a mean old man, played by Vinay Varma, obsessed with the wealth he has guarded as a treasure. The plot revolves around his son Nasir, daughter Azra and servants. He tries to arrange marriages of his children and at the same time, despite being 60-year-old, tries to find a bride for himself.
The play is set up in feudalistic family of the city. Nasir, played by Rahim Amirali Lalani and Azra played by Sharanjeet Kour are fed up with their father who is as strict as he is miser.
The play runs smoothly and the actors carry it forward with new age songs and mention of Facebook. The dresses and hairdos are in sync with the plot and resonate with the dialogues. For example, when the miser father tells his son Nasir how he wastes money on his spike like hairdo going to some ‘Habib’ bhai’s ‘saloon’ and boxes his ears pinching his earlobe that glints with a diamond stud. Sarcastically, he adds that he should also buy him cosmetics!
Azra played a cantankerous aggressive girl always shouting and fighting with the man she loves – the servant of the house, who gives up his job of a software engineer to impress the old man and be near the love of his life. The narrative flows smoothly with the old man trying to marry a young woman loved by his own son. The witty dialogues punctuate the drama, as do the acts by the artistes. The lost and found element is also woven in the play and the characters entertain you with their humour and expressions.
It’s worth a watch.