Moulin Rouge : Spectacular! Spectacular!
When banners all over Lahore went up announcing the opening of a musical inspired by the Moulin Rouge film, which starred Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman, everyone had high expectations for it. The play was not a commercial venture, as in the words of the Director and Producer Shah Sharabeel, "99.9 per cent of the audience was there by invitation". The hall, packed to capacity every night, held people ranging over a very diverse age bracket. None of them was disappointed. Under the superb direction of Shah Sharabeel, with makeup by the Ather Shahzad studio; an extremely energetic, talented and basically gifted group of young actors and actresses brought the play to life at the Alhamra. The audience sat spellbound for almost two and a half hours while the cast sang, danced and effortlessly delivered a 'spectacular' performance.
For all those who have not yet seen Moulin Rouge, it is advised that they see it, or they might just miss out on the play of the year.
Moulin Rouge's story revolves around two star crossed lovers-Christian the penniless writer, who believes in living by the ideals of truth, beauty, freedom and love, and Satine: the 'Sparkling Diamond' of the Moulin Rouge. The Duke, who owns the deeds to the Moulin Rouge, grows more and more desperate to claim Satine as his own.
Omair Rana acts beautifully as Christian, not dropping out of character even for a split second. He takes us by surprise with his deep, baritone voice soaring smoothly without even the tiniest tremor, as he serenades Satine (Meera Shafi) and pledges his love for her "come what may". Omair performs his emotional responses brilliantly. He actually sounds and looks insanely jealous and totally heartbroken when Satine fools him into thinking she cares for the Duke.
Satine, played my Meera Shafi, woos the audience as she sings, dances, blows kisses to the audience and wins them over. Satine's role, although very well performed, gets a bit tedious. The Duke (complete with delicate French accent) played by Syed Osman Bukhari, is by turns charming, funny, nervous, mincing, jealous and then downright evil. It is not just the three main characters who shine in the play. Jalal Manzar, as pimp Chocolat, gives a remarkable performance. In a curly blond wig, resplendent in shocking pink bellbottoms spangled with diamantes and draped in a pink feather boa, Jalal delights with his completely unselfconscious and thus very believable performance. Abdullah Khan playing the Argentinean Carlos is very amusing and very convincing. It shows that Abdullah know the character inside out and his every move is flawless. He faints at regular intervals, albeit very gracefully every time, and arises unexpectedly too. His accent as well as his dancing is perfect. His role, though relatively minor proves that it doesn't matter how much time you have on stage. The choreography by Atif Khan deserves praise as all the dances were well coordinated. Keeping in mind that the play was held in Lahore, the costumes looked more Parisian than anything.
As a combined effort of all those involved, the performance truly deserves to be rated as a huge success. The play Moulin Rouge is revolutionary. It brings to light issues mostly ignored or shunned by the general public. As well as a highly entertaining and totally enjoyable evening out, it provides us with a social reawakening. In our jaded world, where truth, beauty, freedom and love have all but been forgotten in their essential form, this is a refreshing reawakening. And what better way to reacquaint ourselves with these timeless ideas than spend an evening in the company of the highly entertaining crowd at the Moulin Rouge.
|
Shot: Play At Alhamra Hall 1
A few characters includind one of the favourites Carlos the Argentanian
Another Pair of Characters
|
