- GhanChakkar was staged at the Karachi Arts Council on Sunday evening, directed by Farhan Rahim and written by Babar Jamal.
- The all-young cast was praised for energy, though the script was criticised for lewd, predictable humour.
- The set was almost identical to those of The Odd Couple and Only English, and the policemen's uniforms changed during the play.
- The review also criticised the repeated ticket and wrist checks at the hall entrance.
GhanChakkar, the latest comedy at the Karachi Arts Council, has been criticised as a farce that went too far. A review of Sunday evening's performance found a hard-working young cast let down by a crude script.
The play follows The Odd Couple on the Arts Council stage. It is another production built around farce, a genre the review suggests has become the main one on offer in the city's theatre scene.
A bag of cash and a chain of mix-ups
The story centres on a low-income accountant who works from nine to five and travels between home and office by public bus. One day, on his way home, he picks up the wrong bag by mistake and later discovers that it holds Rs 400 million.
What follows is a run of mix-ups and misunderstandings involving the accountant, his wife and their visiting in-laws. A taxi driver and two police detectives join in, and the plot piles on identity swaps and outrageous lies.
The villain, Mogambo, is arrested in the final scene after another character bites him. The review said the moment drew laughter from younger viewers but left adults questioning the quality of a show presented as family entertainment.
Young cast, weak script
The production had no big names behind it. It was directed by Farhan Rahim, written by Babar Jamal and performed by an entirely young cast of recent graduates. The review called this one of its more encouraging features and said the cast gave an energetic, spontaneous performance.
It also credited the direction, the actors' sharp timing and the lighting. The script, however, was called the production's greatest weakness, relying on lewd humour and weak, predictable lines that only occasionally produced genuine, if accidental, laughs.
The review said the play leaned on sexual themes and jokes about gender identity at the expense of wit and originality. One character repeatedly used the Urdu refrain 'Chee, Chee, Chee', which the reviewer felt described the play itself.
Repeated sets and costume slips
The set design was almost identical to that used in The Odd Couple and Only English. Some costumes did not match the characters' original outfits, and the two policemen appeared in different uniforms during the play.
The review also referred to Only English, staged at the Arts Council a week earlier. It said that play went as far as speaking and singing the F-word aloud in an attempt to generate fun.
The reviewer argued that institutions such as the Arts Council must draw a clear line between comedy and farce. Farce, the review said, should not sink so low that it derides comedy itself.
Entry checks and a wider theatrical legacy
The review also criticised the entry process. Visitors have their wrists stamped and are then checked repeatedly at the hall entrance, which it described as humiliating, and it urged more graceful ways of verifying tickets.
It set the production against Karachi's long theatre tradition. That tradition includes socially conscious work by artists such as Sheema Kirmani, children's theatre associated with the late Yasmin Ismail and writer Imran Aslam, and the popular comedy of Umar Sharif. The National Academy of Performing Arts, under the late Zia Mohyeddin, added formal training for practitioners.
Given that heritage, the review said audiences have reason to expect more than exaggerated performances and easy laughs. It argued that Karachi has plenty of stories, eccentric personalities and everyday absurdities to draw on, and that using them well takes strong writing and craft.
Questions and answers
What is GhanChakkar about?
It is a farce about a low-income office accountant who accidentally takes the wrong bag on a public bus and finds Rs 400 million inside. This leads to mix-ups involving his wife, visiting in-laws, a taxi driver and two police detectives.
Who made GhanChakkar?
The play was directed by Farhan Rahim and written by Babar Jamal. It features an entirely young cast and was staged at the Karachi Arts Council.
What were the main criticisms of the production?
The review criticised the script for lewd, predictable humour, the reuse of an almost identical set, and costume inconsistencies such as the policemen's changing uniforms. It also objected to the repeated ticket checks at the entrance.
