Director: Veena Bakshi
Duration: 90 minutes
Cast:Preeta Mathur Thakur, Aman Gupta, Shankar Iyer, Arunima Joshi and others
Language: Hindi
Rating: 3 stars
Plot: Originally from UP, Mumbai-based couple Kaveri and Dashrath find themselves at odds with their daughter Neeta when she refuses to go along with their plan of having a traditional by-the-book marriage.
Review: Nothing throws up generational conflicts better than a wedding in the family. Ank’s 85th production Hamari Neeta Ki Shaadi takes us into the living room of the Upadhyay family, who are gearing up for Neeta’s (Arunima Joshi) haldi ceremony that day. While Kaveri (Preeta Mathur Thakur) and Dashrath (Aman Gupta) are upwardly mobile, they want to go the traditional way when it comes to the nuptials of their only daughter, replete with the rituals and customs of a UP wedding. The bride-to-be plays along for a while, although reluctantly, but eventually has a meltdown and locks herself up in her bathroom. Most of the play revolves around this plot point.
At the heart of the story lies the conflict between the new and the old, the modern and the traditional. But Bakshi, who directed the National Award-winning film
The Coffin Maker
, is also adept at bringing out the hyprocrisy of the urban couple, who want to show their friends and relatives that they have not forgotten their roots. Much of the play’s finer moments are derived from the playful banter between the husband and wife and at Kaveri’s attempts to throw a wedding party that will be spoken about in her social circle for years to come. However, it threatens to turn into a farce, especially in the latter half when Neeta threatens to boycott the marriage.
Among the actors, it’s Aman’s balancing act between the wife and daughter that impresses. He also gets the best lines in the play, which evoke laughter among the audience.
The minimalist set design and costumes add to the atmosphere of the shaadi wala ghar.
Brownie points
for the traditional folk wedding songs that have been used for the blackouts, which lend an authentic touch to the celebrations.
Although Hamari Neeta Ki Shaadi doesn’t say anything which has not been said before, it’s to the director’s and actors’ credit that the play works as a light-hearted social commentary
on Indians and their obsession with weddings.
- Deepali Singh
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