Venue: Kamani Auditorium
Date: 14-12-2014

As if we didn’t have enough sleazy comedies in films, this genre is also making its way into theatre. “Ticket to Heaven”, “Run for Your Wife” etc are staged regularly as part of weekend fare in Delhi. We don’t mind such plays if done properly with an honest intent. But another addition to the plays of this genre, “Couple Trouble” is a half baked vulgar comedy.

The director roped in, out of work Bollywood actress Kashmira Shah and tried to make a David Dhawan meets Dada Kondke for some “masti” kind of play. He managed to get some whistles from the audience who can laugh at just about anything.

Last we remember Kashmira Shah, she was trying to go beyond her item girl image and managed to leave an impression in a small but decent role of a sexy neighbor with a heart of gold in the film Wake Up Sid. We thought working in plays is an extension of her desire to do something meaningful. But within 15 minutes of Couple Trouble we realised she’s still cashing in on her sultry image.

Bollywood is now shaking to the tunes of Babydoll and a lot of big actresses are doing item numbers leaving the likes of Kashmira Shahs and Rakhi Sawants high and dry. In a scenario where they think they are too big for idiot box and too small for Bollywood, they resort to the theatre. But Indian theatre was never known to be a financially viable option. It has always been taken up by many an aspiring and established actors to go back to their roots or to learn and unlearn the basics. Also to experience an adrenaline rush, that an actor gets from performing in front of a live audience without any retakes on stage. Saurabh Shukla, Nandita Das, Shabana Azmi, Ashish Vidyarthi etc. continue to work in theatre because it provides a space that films cannot.

Delhi theatre is neither a place to make moolah nor it has the capability and audience to make one an overnight star. If one is doing the same hackneyed Bollywood style roles even on stage then what’s the point?

Riding solely on Kashmira Shah’s sex appeal, this play has poor direction, terrible storyline and dialogues make no sense at all. It’s about two married couples where men are trying to taste the forbidden fruit hanging in somebody else’s garden. How original 🙁

We yawned through the play and we cringed every time Kashmira uttered “I hate sex” in a seductive tone. Her costumes were also as shoddy as the overall performance of the cast.

We saw a lot of people were laughing their guts out and had a gala time watching this no brainer joke in name of a play. We left questioning ourselves whether such plays are made because people want it or people are watching such plays because they are not exposed to quality stuff?