The title of the play is rather outlandish but one must watch the play to find out what exactly it means. I was very thankful when I found out that Sabz Pari is no girl and Laal kabooter is not a guy and this play is not based on their love story, because I was expecting just that. Sabz Pari laal Kabooter is an A&B production and I have to give the production house credit for yet again raising issues that are considered tabooed in our society in a very open manner. SPLK has been written by Amna Mufti and directed by Babar Javed. So, it is the same team that is behind the play “Jahez”.
SPLK is a good effort to cause awareness about and give the viewers an insight into the lives of drug addicts and Transgender persons. The trouble with any such play would be that it in no way can be ‘entertaining’, the way we know entertainment. To be honest people would rather sweep such issues under the carpet and watch a light social romantic play any day of the week. But the fact is that such people do exist in our society and A&B productions is doing the entertainment industry a huge favor by breaking new grounds.
The story revolves primarily around a rickshaw driver Rafique ( Faisal Qureshi) who is living in a world of his own completely oblivious of his responsibilities and duites toward his wife (Nimra Bucha) and four daughters. Rafique is a drug addict who is deeply infatuated by Katrina Kaif and will do anything to have her in his life. He calls Katrina Kaif ‘Sabz Pari” (who is maybe his escape from reality) and Laal Kabooter (money) is what he needs to get his Sabz Pari. The term “Sabz pari” is also used for the drugs he uses to escape to his imaginary world. Mohib Mirza is a close friend of Rafique who owns a paan shop but his real business is selling drugs and alluring people into the trap of a fake peer Rafique’s brother Shafiq (Sami Khan) is the one who actually looks after his brother’s wife and kids, he has ‘worked’ hard to buy the house they all live in and to get his brother a rickshaw. Shafiq has Gender Identity Disorder but is trying very hard to fit in as a ‘man’. The character of Shafiq has been very nicely portrayed and Sami Khan has done a brilliant job. Shafiq , like most transgender people is a sensitive person and after trying very hard to earn a living by selling things etc he has finally given up and has to resort to his old means of income; dressing up as a woman, begging for money and doing what people like him do in our society to earn a living, unfortunately the only way “acceptable” way for them to earn money.
Running parallel to the story of Rafique and Shafique is the story of Arham (Sarmad Khoosat) who belongs to a very rich family and has recently gotten married to a middle-class self-made, confident girl Milli. Arham’s mother is a controlling woman who is not willing to accept his daughter-in-law because of her finanacial background. Milli walks out on Arham when he hits her after they have an argument and although he realizes soon enough and apologizes to Milli, she is not willing to accept the apology or come back to him. Arham is stuck between a stubborn, controlling mother and a wife who will not compromise. He resorts to taking drugs, since he has no control on his wife or mother.
Unfortunately, this time around too, Geo managed to give the major chunk of the story away in the plot outline including the end especially about Rafique and what he will end up doing, so that automatically kills half of the fun.
What SPLK aims to achieve is definitely commendable; causing awareness about drug abuse and how people are allured into it and raising sensitivity towards the issues of transgender people. It would have been better if the sidetrack was more interesting because Arham and Milli’s story does not seem to have much to it till now. Some of the dialogues in the play are very loud and in-your-face. There are definitely some continuity issues because there were a number of scenes where I was left wondering how we got there. Three episodes later the story has not moved forward the way one would expect it to, hence a lot of repetition. I hope the play will pick up pace soon and there will be some interesting twists to keep the interest of the audience alive.
Written By: Fatima Awan
