Review: Dekh Behen Part Two Written by: Dilshad Edibam Khurana & Tahira Nath Krishnan Directed by: Prerna Chawla & Shikha Talsania Produced by: Akarsh Khurana & Saatvika Kantamneni Venue: Prithvi Theatre Date: 17 August 2023
Does helping one's friend get through their own big Indian wedding act as a measure of love and an unbreakable bond of friendship? For someone who has helped plan a fair share of weddings, (all of two), I’d say, yes. Yes it does.
So, it makes sense that Dekh Behen PartTwo, a story about friendship, is set against the backdrop of a destination wedding.
Small-town girl, Kanupriya, is our bride, and while she may want to fit in with her savvy, city friends, her orthodox in-laws aren't really about that life. They prefer a strict, pure vegetarian, alcohol-free, kind of celebration. No points for guessing what Kanupriya’s wedding looked like. Thankfully, her girl squad was around to raise her spirits: 6 vastly different women; The therapy goer, the loud-mouthed, the reserved, the business owner, the independent-no-nonsense one and of course, there was the ‘new girl’. The only thing they had in common were the slightly hideous matching outfits the bride put them in.
Right from the get go the bridal suite with its queen sized bed, stained panel windows and animal printed curtains, becomes the sole space for all the action taking place. Within this room we witness an elaborate plan to procure alcohol, a queer relationship crisis and the unforeseen onset of a period that threatens to shut the wedding down.
Watching the sisterhood juggle all the chaos, we get to see a few moments of tenderness. Astha Arora’s Kanupriya, is a complete girl’s girl who lends an empathetic ear to her friends even when facing a crisis herself on her ‘big day’. The concern the lot of them feel when Dilshad Edibam Khurana’s Mindy seems to be going through a rough patch with her lesbian partner, is executed with care. It’s all quite endearing. And Preetika Chawala’s Riya, who drops nuggets of wisdom she’s picked up from her therapy sessions, wherever applicable, only makes the play funnier. The actors quite effortlessly establish a banter between themselves and the rapport they share seems familiar.
I consider myself quite privileged to have a very strong support system of wonderful women, and so I can vouch for the fact that the love and intimacy shared within female friend circles is quite something else. There’s a certain liberation in feeling comfortable enough to not look presentable, to be in a state of undress around your gal pals. An even greater sense of belonging when you realise that they will call you out on your idiosyncrasies and love you regardless. And having all these incredible, inspiring women by your side when you're making a life altering decision (like marriage) - it’s bound to be reaffirming.
The play does offer us glimpses into this dynamic. Most of it however, is overshadowed by an avalanche of jokes about sex, with the more than occasional cuss word thrown in. I had walked in knowing that I’d get to witness a girls locker room talk, I had hoped that it would be more empowering. And while Tahira Nath’s Manpreet, notorious for being foul-mouthed, does deliver these jokes with good comic timing, I can’t help but wonder whether it would have been more impactful had these jokes been directed with more nuance, instead of being delivered just for laughs. Some of the writing too, relied heavily on expositions to carry the story forward. There is a lot of scope to see an organic unfolding of the narrative.
Nevertheless, the play does entertain. Even for those who haven’t watched the first instalment, Dekh Behen PartTwo does a good job of standing on its own.The chemistry between the performers is enjoyable, the costume designer clearly seems to have had fun with cooking up ideas for tacky looking clothes and you can expect to leave having had a good laugh. I definitely recognised some familiar ‘characters’ on stage, and if you've been to an Indian wedding, you probably will too!
Written by Dilshad Edibam Khurana and Tahira Nath Krishnan Directed by Prerna Chawla and Shikha Talsania Production : Akvarious Productions Cast : Astha Arora, Tahira Nath, Dilshad Edibam, Shikha Talsania, Preetika Chawla, Prerna Chawla and others. Set Design by Parth Varshney Light Design by Yael Crishna Sound Design by Varrunn Bangera Stage Management by Lovely Raj and Rahul Gupta Produced by Akarsh Khurana and Saatvika Kantamneni |
About the reviewer: Anushka Ghose is "the social media person" at QTP who also looks at all things copy. She writes at work and spends her time off work thinking about what to write next.
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