A jhumka falls, not in Bareilly’s bazaar (as the iconic Asha Bhosle song goes) but on a crowded Bombay local train, and a filmy love story begins –this time, between Rekha, an English student and Bindu, a boyishly charming History student. In the midst of the political upheaval of the ’70s, these two move heaven and earth to turn their meet-cute into a real date. Does it happen? You’ll have to find out in Jhumkewali, a play that’s being performed in Bengaluru after sold-out shows in Mumbai, Delhi and Pune.
With a smile, Nidhi Krishna, who co-directed the play alongside Mekhala, reveals the spark that grew into the play, “Ami Bhansali, the writer, who was in a localtrain one day, saw somebody selling jhumkas, and started wondering about the first person to do it – what if it was a woman in love? Especially a lesbian in love, given the lengths queer women goto for love.”
She describes the play as a ‘very sweet, simple show about coming of age and queer romance’. It is a shot of queer joy sent straight to the heart – deliberately moving away from narratives that end with persecution, tragedy or suffering, which are especially common in queer stories set in the past. “There are many stories out there about the struggles of coming out, family rejection and homophobia. While they have a very important place, there should be room for stories about joy, affirmation and hope too,” she says. By setting it in the past, the show tries to go further by, as Krishna put it, ‘creating a legacy of queer joy’. She adds, “Tragic stories in history don’t necessarily mean that queer people didn’t find love and joy in their own ways. The community was not solely suffering in times which were different from ours.”
This focus on joy doesn’t mean that the play ignores the realities of being a young person in 1970s India, with the protests and political tensions of the time playing an important role. “The 1970s kind of hold up a mirror to our times. There was a lot of cultural, political and economic upheaval, especially in 1974. In Bombay, there were the women’s protests, anti-price hike protests and the next year, the Emergency,” says Krishna, adding, “The play is about things a lot of students connect to – first love in college, friendship, coming of age, but it also touches on the struggles of being a woman in the ’70s, class differences and people of different backgrounds finding shared kinship.”
The show promises to pull viewers’ eyes into this world with rattan and cane sets, costumes abundant in polka dots, checks and bright colours, while soundtracks sampling disco tracks and iconic Bollywoodsongs (record scratches included), take your ears there too. At the heart of it, though, lies the community experience the play creates in each city, notes Krishna, saying, “A lot of times we get young queer people coming for their first play, or first date, sometimes they’re with family members. My hope is that we can create a space for people in Bengaluru, too, to come together and feel connected and affirmed in this space.”
(Jhumkewali will be staged at Jagriti Theatre, Whitefield, on June 27 at 3.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets are available at `500 on bookmyshow.com)
