This weekend, two new plays ufffd Rafta Rafta and Red Hot Mamas ufffd look set to add new chapters to the Wacko Families Operator Manual
This weekend, two new playsu00a0-- Rafta Rafta and Red Hot Mamasu00a0-- look set to add new chapters to the Wacko Families Operator Manual
The cast rehearses for Rafta Rafta. pic/ Anuja Gupta
Plot # 1: In a London suburb dominated by South Asian families, a young man brings his beautiful bride to a home he's sharing with his parents and younger brother. Six weeks pass and the bride is still a virgin. Panic strikes the household.u00a0
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Plot # 2: Now that their children have grown up and gotten busy with their own lives, Ayesha and Dave are finally enjoying an unruffled pace of life. But when their respective mothers-in-law scheme their way into the couple's lives, panic strikes the household.
Two new comedies, with vastly different plots but quite the same themeu00a0-- wacko familiesu00a0-- promise to have you rolling on the floor in laughter. While in Akvarious Production's Rafta Rafta, a young couple faces the predicament of never being able to consummate their marriage, in Litmus Production's Red Hot Mamas a middle-aged couple find themselves in a tricky situation with their mothers-in-law. Sounds like fun? It will be (for the viewers, at least).
Akarsh Khurana, who has undergone a makeover to play one of the main characters in Rafta Rafta, calls the play 'a bedroom tragedy.' "It's about sex, or the lack of it. A lot of the comedy is happening in the bedroom, yet it's not a bedroom comedy," says the co-director of the play. Also, even though the play is set in London and features NRIs and weddings, Rafta Rafta is not something on the lines of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Think in sync with East is East, instead (considering both have been written by Ayub Khan-Din).
The play takes a playful look at the lives of the middle-class NRI, who faces pretty much the same problems as the aam aadmi back in India. "There are fairly serious issues that are working within the playu00a0-- how a joint family functions, how a young groom finds it difficult to perform because of the pressure on him, financial issues that the families face, and so on. To me, these are things that are more important than the gaana-shaana," says Akarsh.
On similar lines, Red Hot Mamas also deals with serious situations with a dash of humour. When the two mothers-in-law land up at their home, Ayesha and Dave have no option but to literally baby-sit the two. Director Troy Ribeiro calls it 'reverse parenting' or a phase when children start taking care of their parents and dictating terms to them.
The parents in question here are not easy to deal with eitheru00a0-- one of them is a chronic flirt with at least two love interests flitting around her. "It's not an easy situation to be in but eventually the protagonists realise that they should let go of conventions and make new rules to deal with their parents. After all, they don't have too long to live and stifling them would be unfair," says Troy.
So, where would you go for a couple of laughs? We suggest you give both a try.
Rafta Rafta will premier on January 15, 7 pm at Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point. Call: 22824567
Red Hot Mamas will premier on January 16, 7.30 pm at St Andrew's Auditorium, St Domnic Road, off Hill Road, Bandra (W). Call: 26459667
