‘Hello Farmaaish’, Aadyam’s second play of 2018 takes you on a special kind of space odyssey.
Mumbai, August: After a wild chase in Atul Kumar’s Detective Nau-Do-Gyarah last month, Aadyam is all set to take viewers on a journey into outer space. Hello Farmaaish, that opens on August 18th and 19th at the Royal Opera House is a heartening tale of a group of village misfits trying to track Kalpana Chawla’s space mission, while taking off on their own flight of imagination and misadventures. The play is a Dur Se Brothers Production, directed by Yuki Ellias, based on a story by Yuki Ellias and Sneh Sapru, English script by Sneh Sapru and Hindi adaptation by Vidit Tripathi. It is based on the concept of women-run community radio stations in rural India.
The idea came up while Ellias was on a hunt for stories of strong female characters. A friend suggested she research community radio stations for inspiration. A biking trip with a large protective helmet sparked off thoughts of Astronauts in Space. Hello Farmaaish unfolds simultaneously with Kalpana Chawla’s 2003 voyage on Space Shuttle Colombia. Minaz, a young, ‘morbid’ girl and General Gita, her older irate teacher in a remote village, find the cold reportage on Akashwani boring, and the Universe out of reach. So instead, they take over radio frequencies from Babloo, the local RJ. Thus begins the journey of shuffling between their lost hamlet and the unexplored night sky, as the trio find themselves in completely uncharted dimensions. Soon, the whole village turns towards space for answers and our RJs are left with facing the wacky questions. What manifests, is ‘Hello Farmaaish’. The quest is also peppered with an original score and singing, and led by strong actors like Puja Sarup, Priyanka Setia, and Abhishek Chauhan.
While Ellias and Sapru themselves travelled deep into Haryana, researching community-run radio stations, the hamlet that we embark upon in the play is an imaginary one. It is a dreamy village set in what the locals call ‘Kaala Parbhat’. Playwright Vidit Tripathi, whose play Lassanwaala was nominated for the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards last year, has written the Hindi dialogues.
Sapru and Ellias have previously collaborated on the widely acclaimed solo play, Elephant In The Room, which received multiple META Awards and nominations, including the Best Female Actor Award and nominations for Best Script and Best Play.
For interviews with the artists' contact:
Media Consultant, Kajal Gadhia - 9820296123 / kajal@mindworkz.in
