Hello farmaaish! is here to lighten your mood on November 7 in Bengaluru. The director, Yuki Ellias says, “The play is about women, in a tiny forgotten village in India, who dream about space, aliens, and blackholes. They are inspired by Kalpana Chawla’s journey with the space shuttle Columbia. The story was created because I wanted to make something where my heroes and protagonists are women.”
Hence began Yuki’s research on community radios of Haryana where she spent about a week understanding the female RJs and their listeners. The listeners would ask questions like “how many teeth does a mosquito have?” or “can buffalo’s fly?” The whole experience was documented in a short film by the crew.
These questions found their way into the script as well says Sneh Sapru, the script writer.
“The women take over the airwaves and speak anonymously on the show ‘Kalpana ki Aawaz’ (the voice of imagination) which is a word play on Kalpana Chawla’s name, who is an inspiration for these women.” says Yuki, “ The crux of the content is the freedom to dream and to express our voice and say what we can imagine.”
Puja Sarup, who plays ‘Gita Ma’am’ in the play, says that “It’s the same curiosity the women of villages harbour, just like us urban ladies, but the resources are not accessible to them. We are all curious beings. And this is a unifying factor regardless of who you are and where you are from. And the very fact that we portray women as curious beings and how they understand the importance of having a broadcast in their area is a step towards empowering them.”
It was originally written in English and then translated to Hindi by Vidit Tripathi who maintained the essence of the dialogues rather than doing a literal translation.
The cast and crew was open for improvising the lines on and off stage and this what made it so beautiful says Vidit. He also believes that “An art form can empower a cause by primarily talking about it. To start a conversation about gender inequality is in itself doing service to the cause.”
As the director Yuki had to create the space on stage and show transition between earth and space, “with the help of lighting, music and sound design. With these three elements, and the actor’s body language gets transposed, you can create the feeling of epic.”
The play will be enjoyed by anyone who understands Hindi and likes theatre. It is a comic poetic journey based on the genres of magical realism and sci-fi. Even though the play is set in rural area, the parallels can be drawn to a rural setting because the dilemmas and struggles of women is universal.
Do check it out on November 7 at 7:30 pm in Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar.
The play successfully brought out a roar of laughter in theatres of Mumbai and Delhi, despite having such serious thought-provoking themes.
