Date: 22 to 23 sep 2018
Venue: Kamani Auditorium, Delhi
As we all know by now, Aadyam is the theatre initiative of the Aditya Birla group. They are in their fourth season and the second play was Hello Farmaish. We watched this last Sunday at a packed Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi.
Hello Farmaish is scripted by Sneh Sapru and directed by Yuki Ellias of Elephant in the Room fame. The story is located in a hamlet in Haryana and is based on Kalpana Chawla’s trip to space. On knowing about this, a group of young girls in this village and their sewing teacher go on an odyssey of their own. They start a program “Hello Farmaish” a call-in show that caters to all sort of requests and also talks about Kalpana Chawla’s mission on a ham radio channel. In that process they face hurdles – social stigma, threat, vandalism. Yet their flight of fantasy doesn’t stop.
The stage is creatively designed like an abstract painting. It has a stairway to stars hanging from the ceiling. There is a round ring that looks like an orbit but is really a door. Clouds and a tree complete the dreamy effect.
The review would be incomplete without a word of appreciation about the acting. The seasoned cast gets their Haryanvi diction as well as gait just right. The awesome music and the simple dance moves help in creating a lasting impression and we keep travelling the roller coaster with the actors.
Yes, it is a story about women empowerment. But there is more. It breaks stereotypes such as gender-bender issues, one can follow one’s heart sitting at any corner of the world and not all men are MCPs.
Nonetheless, because of the crash of the spacecraft Columbia, Kalpana Chawla could not make it. She and her fellow astronauts died as the world watched in horror. But what happens to our Hello Farmaish girls? Where does their odyssey take them?
No more spoilers from us. Watch Hello Farmaish whenever it is staged again as it is totally worth the jump between dream and reality. As always we would let you know by way of our listing of Aadyam plays. All said, Hello Farmiash is about that flight that we all need to take – in and out – every single day.
I think this is a wonderful play and I’d love to see it, especially that is located in Haryana. I have actually visited this state during my last trip to India.
I’ve never been to New Delhi, but it is absolutely on my bucket list. I love the way you described the stage and the cast. Sounds like a must-watch!
I love how it goes beyond to break stereotypes! Would love to see this in person because it sounds great!
Great play, brings something new to the table and makes one to really want to be there in person to see it.
A show about woman empowerment sounds good to me. I love the colorful dresses.
This sounds like a great show – I mean we all need some empowerment going on in our lives!
This seems like a wonderful show! A show about female empowerment sounds like a good time to me!
Wow! It looks so fun to experience this. I want to see their stage with an abstract painting! Cool
Such an interesting experience.
I’d love to see this play when I get a chance to visit India. Love that it’s about female empowerment!
xoxo
Annie