The KDS Annual Long & Short Play: Official Event Review !!

There are two very special days in KE, both highly awaited, both thoroughly enjoyed and both fondly remembered…

One, the rare day when Munir Sahab doesn’t strike your attendance off in Pharma…

And the other… the KDS-held ANNUAL PLAY!

Barney Stinson... thought the posters
were !AWESOME!

One look at this year’s dazzlingly bright Play posters had EVERYONE buzzing with excitement. ‘Tis was May the 18^th when KDS unleashed its much anticipated Long Play Main Pagal Nahi Hun!?! and Short Play Maa. With previous hit dramas like Zindagi Kai Platform Par and Khajoor Mai Atka, this year’s KDS had to respond to massive expectations, and did they?? Heck YEAH!

SHORT PLAY: MAA

Directed by Rizwan Khan, Written by Sohaib Anwaar

Basheera and Nazeera

Maa centred on the theme of two pitiable brothers whose lust for fame and fortune lead them to the horrific act of using their own disabled mother. Qasim Khan as Bashira proved himself a veteran of such roles amidst some very livid eye expressions! Fazal-I-Raziq debuted as the second brother Nazeera. The plot admittedly progressed slowly; with the climax being Bashira putting an end to Nazeera’s life in front of his Maa’s eyes. The play ended with their Maa dying of grief and Bashira realizing the consequences of his mistake too late. It was later revealed that the charpai-ridden, apple-eating Maa had in fact been a Mister-Maa in disguise. Gosh! Now readers THAT is what you call true acting, no?

When all is lost... Curtain!

LONG PLAY: MAIN PAGAL NAHIN HUN!?!

Directed by Husnain Waseem and Rizwan Khan, Written by Jawad Ahmad and Husnain Waseem, Produced by Ahmad Tariq

Screeching nurses, spiky haired pagals, syringing ward boys, engaged hospital docs and a not-so-good Professor…yo Main Pagal Nahin Hun had it all! The Play was set in a mental hospital with a huge consortium of characters: (you know it’s like the it theme… going nuts is… I mean first half the KAPS vids and now the long play!)

Pagal by Talha Saleem

‘Mein daik raha hon kai mai badlon mai fly kr raha hon aur merai nechai machlian hain…aur wo mujay gana suna rahi hain…. Kina sona taino Rab nai banaya!’

Mostly seen supporting a cool spiky hairdo, Talha played our first on stage nutter, who had to face the terror of Shoka’s syringe. His acting earned many laughs… and for those who don’t know, he had to shampoo after every show, to get those spikes down!

Shoka by Muhammad Awais

Spiky Pagal and Shoka in action

‘Mera naaun ai Shoka tai mera dost… diazepam!’

‘Oii Haaaazaaa Baaz Aaa ja!!’

Two words: Show stealer. It was M. Awais’s superb acting and brilliant dialogue delivery that left him or rather Shoka as the crowd fav. His hilarious moves and well aimed syringe shots added much life to the play. An unforgettable performance indeed, that can’t be praised enough.

Professor by Umar Iftikhar

Tayebah Mumtaz and Umar Iftikhar
on stage

Aptly described as a doctor whose practise isn’t exactly squeaky clean the Professor was the show’s antagonist. Well him and those darn dangerous drugs!

Pharmacist Nazia by Tayebah Mumtaz

Tayebah debuted this year as the sparklingly styled, sultry voiced Lady Pharmacist…who-would-supply-second-rated-medicines-to-the-Professor!! Gasp! Ignoring that disturbing fact, neat job Tayebah! :)

Arabi by Arsalan Baig

‘Haza Sakht Aurat!!’

‘Anta Perfect-un!’

Had it not been mentioned no one would have guessed that this was a first time whack at acting by Arsalan Baig. From ‘Haza my name..’ to ‘Yaa Haiwana!’ we saw a truly enjoyable and spotless show of the Sheikh’s wackiness. Can anyone forget those crazy hand moves to the tunes of ‘Maalish…Tail Maalish’? Allah Dita Maalish sure spotted a talent!

Dr. Waqas by Neehal Wali

‘Interested tou mai hon laikin patients mai nai!’

What’s a KDS drama without a flirty young doctor right? :P Veteran actor Neehal Wali played Dr. Waqas who strived hard… and then finally won over Dr. Annie. It did take some power punches and a heroic purse return though. An acting job done very well!

Dr. Annie by Aniqa Aslam

The play’s smart lady doc was played quite smartly by Aniqa Aslam.

Umer by Husnain Butt

‘Jhoot bolti ho aisi hi larki ho!’

After incredible acting in Incomplete and as Ta-Ta-Ta Tony Husnain Butt gave another oscar worthy performance. It was Umer’s varying roles such as turning into Noori that won true applause. The tragic end of Umer at the play’s end touched all those watching.

'Gulab ko Jis naam sai pukarain... hota
tou gulab he hai na jeee!'- Paro

Paro by Ayesha Rukham

‘Sachin! Sachin! Sachin!’

‘Filmon ki kasrat’ and ‘Heroine banay ki hasrat’ is a powerful combo folks. And the result? Paro. Ayesha Rukham’s perky expressions and characteristic hand movements punched in with those Hain Jee! Hai Allah Jee! were unbeatable. Superb work!

Faisal Akram as the Police Officer

Shock treatment ordered for Umer

Nurse 1 by Ayesha Riaz

An expert and experienced KDS actress, Ayesha Riaz performed as the loud mouthed and prone-to-screeching Nurse 1. Without Ayesha R. next year’s play is just not going to be the same! : /

Sultan by Humayun Israr

‘Tai Muralitharan dai baray thada ki khayal ai?’

From Jahazi salutes to Obama, to literal parwazes Humayun Israr took off this year as an addict who’d taken to living in the hospital. Sultan being the oldest patient there, knew of all the silent wrong doings around, and he ended the play with strong words: ‘Jay Aih way log normal ain tai mai normal nai ban na chanda!’

Other notable performers included Ali by Haris Bilal, the Sheikh’s wife by Fatima tuz Zahra, Nurse 2 by Alina Bashir and Faisal Akram as the police officer. The ahem ‘dance’ performances between acts were given by Zarsham Ali, Abdul Mohsin Bakhsh and Humayun Israr. Well at least they seemed to have fun. :)

The play that had the audience in stitches for a majority of the time, ended on a highly emotional note. In a race for glory and wealth, many amongst our profession have forgotten to be noble, to be humane, to treat the patient before them as a human being, have forgotten their oath of honesty, forgotten that they're playing with someone’s LIFE. Umer’s tragedy is a reminder to us all to beware.

BACKSTAGE WORK AND BLOOPERS

Husnain Butt and Rizwan Khan proved their worth as great directors. It’s said Husnain Butt muttered every dialogue of the play along with the actors. The play’s witty one liners, its most remembered aspect, should be credited to the writers. Eye catching elements this year were the videos made by Rizwan Khan and Omer Altaf. The effort put in really showed and the picture resolution was SO sharp, it could kill! The sets behind were surreal. To make it possible a huge backstage team laboured hard with Kanza Zafar working hard in props, Faisal Akram in sets, Sahir Zahid in costumes, M. Adil and Usama Pasha for the brochures and Ahmad Tariq for Finance. To keep the energy up guitar strings would occasionally get strung or M. Awais and Fahad would get to mimicking all the actors! Miss Nazia kaisiiii hain app? became a popular tease for Umar Iftikhar.

Team behind Maa

Team behind Main Pagal Nahi Hun?!?

So a standing ovation to the KDS Secretary for such an unforgettable play…! All good things have an end. This year’s annual play is over but its memories will be cherished warmly both by the makers and the audience alike!

Speaking about the audience, you might not have noticed but some VIP guests were there too and their thoughts on the play were:

Superman...

....King Abdullah

And Barney Stinson... who thought it was LEGEND... waaait for it... DARY!

;D
Do comment below readers! What's your take on the play?!
(*Special Thanks to Tayebah Mumtaz for info on the dialogues and backstage bloopers.)