Play Review: Ismat Aapa Ke Naam, Part 2(9.5/10)

Rarely has a ‘part-two’ lived up to the bar set by a superlative ‘part-one’. Ismat Aapa Ke Naam Part 2 is one of those rare part twos. I knew I would enjoy this play even before stepping into the Experimental Theatre at NCPA, but I had not imagined it matching up to Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah’s top notch work in Part 1.

This play too is a collection of three of Ismat Aapa’s hilarious and heart breaking short stories – Amar Bel, Nanhi Ki Naani and Do Haath, recited and performed verbatim by Manoj Pahwa, Loveleen Misra and Seema Pahwa respectively. The stories have the wonderful Urdu and Lucknow-style Hindi feel. The characters, costumes and the language create the atmosphere which rekindles the experience of watching Part 1 to perfection.

Manoj Pahwa does a superb job in Amar Behl. Only a person as “healthy” as him would be able to pull off the comic impact required!

Lovleen Misra is energetic and enthusiastic playing Nanhi ki Naani. The story has a RK Narayan feel to it, wherein the author simply spends the whole story building the character of the Naani. This story is very different from the five other Ismat Chughtai stories that I’ve come across (in part 1 and 2).

The “show-stopper”, though, is the incredibly talented Seema Pahwa in Do Haath. She puts up an absolutely remarkable performance, makes you laugh till your stomachs hurt and makes you wish you were a theatre actor. Her comic timing is impeccable, so is her command over language and pronunciation.

Amongst us who watched the play, three of us had seen part 1 and were glad we did part 2 too and the guy who had not seen part 1 only has more to look forward to.

PS. I sent my parents for this play the very next day too.

Play Review: Ismat Aapa ke Naam, Part 1 (9.5/10)

Remember when we you were young? Remember your grandmother’s stories before you went to sleep at night? Remember the days when your forehead never wrinkled with worries? Seems long ago, right?

Relive those days by spending a couple of hours with Naseer-ud-din Shah and his family as they take you along a journey into Ismat Aapa’s land of fiction. Revisit that corner of innocence, which you did not know existed in your mind anymore. Come out and see the world in a new light, at least while the impact lasts. It’s been over 24 hours and I’m still feeling the impact – it’s a high in itself.

Okay, I have to digress here. Unfortunately, or rather sadly, I had not heard of Ismat Chughtai before. The loss was mine. Naseer-ud-din Shah begins the show with an introduction of Ismat Aapa and takes her name alongside O’ Henry.”That might be stretching it a little”, I thought to myself. I’ve read some of O’ Henry’s short stories, and they’re fascinating. But after listening to narrations of three of Ismat Aapa’s Indian, very earthy and captivating stories, I surrendered all my suspicion.

Ismat Aapa ke Naam is a collection of three stories, “Chui Mui”, “Mughal Baccha” and “Gharwali” narrated and acted by Heeba Shah, Ratna Pathak Shaah and Naseer-ud-din Shah, individually, one after the other. So it’s not your conventional play.

Ratna Pathak Shah –I always thought she was nice, but I would never really refer to her as a “beautiful” woman. But that was before this play. As she dresses up in unique attire, kajal in her eyes, and warmth in her persona I realized that this kind of “beauty” is priceless. Her narration of Mughal Baccha is so genuinely surreal.

Post interval is the master himself. Naseer-ud-din Shah has kept the most exciting story under his experienced hands. The expertise with which he conducts himself never stops amazing me. Such a master of his craft. Just look at his eyes – the depth, the experience, the skill, it’s all there. Also in his narration, be prepared to laugh

The lights, set design and background music is simple, yet so perfect.

I’m glad that I’m disproven in my hypothesis that famous actors make not so good plays. (Waiting for Godot, Salesman Ramlal, Kuch bhi ho sakta hai, The Blue Mug)

I’m glad that I could watch this play and experience the magic of Urdu – a truly charming language.

I’m glad I did so with the right people, followed it up with good food, and a solitary car ride home with Fuzon’s Aankhon ke Saagar.