SAN DIEGO,CA - Hamid Daudani & Group, presented their 26th annual play ‘Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum’ on April 26 to a full house at the Poway Center of Performing Arts in Poway. The play started with a beautiful dance by 22 young students of Nupoor Dance Academy. It related to the theme of the play and was choreographed by Shalini Chauhan, the director of the academy. The play with 12 cast members told the story of a small Indian...
music band which was invited to perform in a distant village in India by a landlord. The five-member band arrived at a bus stop in the wilderness and waited for their ride into the village. After getting tired of waiting for two hours, they decide to walk to the destination some five miles away.
They walked the distance, but in the wrong direction. Tired and thirsty, they ended up in a small village, soon realizing that not only was it not the village they were supposed to be in, they were not even in the country they were supposed to be in. They had crossed the border and had arrived in Pakistan! They all gasped and thought “Ye kahaan aa gaye hum?” the underlying theme of the play was unity.
The cast delivered very strong performances.
Champ Nath’s performance as Dada was dazzling, even though he was drunk. When he did come out of his drunken stupor, he delivered in spades. Champ’s performance oozed of sadness and anger – not knowing whether Dada’s son was alive or dead since he ran off to India to cause mayhem. Dada blamed his loss on all Indians, and the Pakistani government. He wanted his revenge! And the Indian band members were the perfect target. But after having the opportunity to act on his hate, he recognized the only way he could find peace was through forgiveness.
Amma was played with great relish by Ayesha Khan.
Shweta Doshi was Rani, a bubbly, happy young village girl who gets wooed by a band member, Mastana, played by Suneel Battula. Both excelled in their roles.
Prasad Adusumali played Fareed Ahmed, the elderly voice of reason among the villagers. He was the one who lambasted Dada when he, although with good intentions, put everyone at risk by assaulting the police officer, played very officially and sternly by Vijaykumar Ghurke.
Vijay had a shorter, but pivotal role, as he was both the biggest danger to the safe return of the band members back to India, and the key factor in the scheme concocted by the brainy Dimple, who was also a band member, played by Swarupa Ellamaraju. In a very rational and logical way, Dimple laid out a plan, enlisting the help of the mild-mannered, mango-smuggling Mahmood Mian, played to a tee by Rama Rao Varigonda, and the knocked-out, drunk police officer to deliver the band all back across the border.
About mid-way through the play, the band members sang a few verses of poetry and performed a qawwali, which had the audience enthusiastically clapping along. The best rendition was delivered by Smita Archana, who played Mona, in a most melodious and soothing voice.
Sanjay Nachani played Madhur, the leader of the band.
Sachin Chwala as Aman was the assistant band manager who maintained peace among all the parties. Aman’s well-acted, cautious feelings towards Karishma, played by Anubhuti Neb, were both acknowledged and rebuffed in a delicately subdued manner. She confided in Aman with her unbearable grief, that Dada’s lost son Nadeem was also her husband.
Hamid Daudani, Zulfiqar Rashid and Anush Moorthi toiled over the script repeatedly. Atul Prasad worked tirelessly with the cast as the assistant director. Under the leadership of technical director Yogesh Sayanakar, the team painstakingly hand-built the village set over a period of four months. Anuradha Atri served as the production manager, and as the stage manager with Yamini Patel. The costumes were, as always, impeccably organized by Mamta Malhotra, and the makeup magic by Zainab Ansari. The show would only be half as effective without the light engineering by Bharat Shah, and the sound engineering by Vipula Roy.
On a more somber note, this was the first play since the sad passing of Laila Daudani, Hamid’s life partner of 47 years. The entire theater was in silence, recalling the vibrant and dynamic Laila as Hamid spoke about her in a wavering voice, with heartfelt words of love and remembrance.
They walked the distance, but in the wrong direction. Tired and thirsty, they ended up in a small village, soon realizing that not only was it not the village they were supposed to be in, they were not even in the country they were supposed to be in. They had crossed the border and had arrived in Pakistan! They all gasped and thought “Ye kahaan aa gaye hum?” the underlying theme of the play was unity.
The cast delivered very strong performances.
Champ Nath’s performance as Dada was dazzling, even though he was drunk. When he did come out of his drunken stupor, he delivered in spades. Champ’s performance oozed of sadness and anger – not knowing whether Dada’s son was alive or dead since he ran off to India to cause mayhem. Dada blamed his loss on all Indians, and the Pakistani government. He wanted his revenge! And the Indian band members were the perfect target. But after having the opportunity to act on his hate, he recognized the only way he could find peace was through forgiveness.
Amma was played with great relish by Ayesha Khan.
Shweta Doshi was Rani, a bubbly, happy young village girl who gets wooed by a band member, Mastana, played by Suneel Battula. Both excelled in their roles.
Prasad Adusumali played Fareed Ahmed, the elderly voice of reason among the villagers. He was the one who lambasted Dada when he, although with good intentions, put everyone at risk by assaulting the police officer, played very officially and sternly by Vijaykumar Ghurke.
Vijay had a shorter, but pivotal role, as he was both the biggest danger to the safe return of the band members back to India, and the key factor in the scheme concocted by the brainy Dimple, who was also a band member, played by Swarupa Ellamaraju. In a very rational and logical way, Dimple laid out a plan, enlisting the help of the mild-mannered, mango-smuggling Mahmood Mian, played to a tee by Rama Rao Varigonda, and the knocked-out, drunk police officer to deliver the band all back across the border.
About mid-way through the play, the band members sang a few verses of poetry and performed a qawwali, which had the audience enthusiastically clapping along. The best rendition was delivered by Smita Archana, who played Mona, in a most melodious and soothing voice.
Sanjay Nachani played Madhur, the leader of the band.
Sachin Chwala as Aman was the assistant band manager who maintained peace among all the parties. Aman’s well-acted, cautious feelings towards Karishma, played by Anubhuti Neb, were both acknowledged and rebuffed in a delicately subdued manner. She confided in Aman with her unbearable grief, that Dada’s lost son Nadeem was also her husband.
Hamid Daudani, Zulfiqar Rashid and Anush Moorthi toiled over the script repeatedly. Atul Prasad worked tirelessly with the cast as the assistant director. Under the leadership of technical director Yogesh Sayanakar, the team painstakingly hand-built the village set over a period of four months. Anuradha Atri served as the production manager, and as the stage manager with Yamini Patel. The costumes were, as always, impeccably organized by Mamta Malhotra, and the makeup magic by Zainab Ansari. The show would only be half as effective without the light engineering by Bharat Shah, and the sound engineering by Vipula Roy.
On a more somber note, this was the first play since the sad passing of Laila Daudani, Hamid’s life partner of 47 years. The entire theater was in silence, recalling the vibrant and dynamic Laila as Hamid spoke about her in a wavering voice, with heartfelt words of love and remembrance.