Direction : Prerna Chawla and Shikha Talsania Writer : Dilshad Edibam Khurana and Tahira Nath Krishnan Cast : Astha Arora, Dilshad Edibam Khurana, Lisha Bajaj, Preetika Chawla, Prerna Chawla, Shikha Talsania, Tahira Nath Krishnan and others
DEKH BEHEN 2 Review
A boisterous comedy about female bonding and a North Indian wedding. Five bridesmaids get ready for a south Delhi wedding. They talk, laugh, make fun of each other, old secrets are spilled, and there's a big revelation at the end. That was the original DEKH BEHEN. This is also an apt description of the sequel, DEKH BEHEN 2, and perhaps that is what keeps the play from becoming as engaging as the first one.
In DEKH BEHEN, there was a newness to the jokes, the way they were told. Women were engaging in the sort of "locker-room talk' that men notoriously do. Whether that brand of feminism - some lines with deliberate shock value just by virtue of a woman having said it - is something you subscribe to or not, it was something that could be appreciated for the novelty of the idea: an entire play in one room with a full female cast talking brashly, cussing, drinking alcohol, even objectifying men. It was deliberately done, not just as comedy, but to shock the viewer into thinking of all the times men talk exactly like this, without anyone batting an eyelid. The characters were well fleshed out, the women all living in the greys between what is considered moral and what's not, exactly as we all are in real life.
The jolly group of characters from the original, who have grown on you, return for the sequel. The story starts five years after the first one ended: bridesmaids Manpreet, Trisha, Riya, Mindy and Reema are getting ready once again, this time, for Kanupriya's wedding. But while there are new plot points and social issues that the sequel handles, there is a definite sameness that you can't ignore.
Even in the sequel, there is great chemistry between the actresses, the dialogue seems as conversational and smooth flowing as the original, with Tahira Nath Krishnan as the loud and foul-mouthed Manpreet and Aastha Arora as small-town bride Kanupriya shining brightly. And while a play that is written and directed by women ensures that the female experience is told well, some of the jokes seem forced, like the writers are trying hard to recreate the DEKH BEHEN magic sauce.
The makers have relied heavily on recall value to create a successful DEKH BEHEN 2 and that is really the point: it's a play worth watching if you are invested in the original characters enough to want to watch more comedy from them in their South Delhi universe; like you might go for a new show by a stand-up comic who you already enjoy.
*Neha Shende is an avid theatre-goer and enjoys watching old Bollywood movies in her free time.
