A timeless romance gets a humorous, satirical twist in Mohabbat ke Side Effects
In Kanupriya Theatre Company’s Mohabbat ke Side Effects, Anarkali, in her nazakat-bhare andaaz, declares that a 3BHK flat in Gurgaon means more to her than all of Salim’s grand romantic gestures. When the prince promptly labels her a gold digger, you know this isn’t a tender Mughal romance playing o
By Srinwanti Das
In Kanupriya Theatre Company’s Mohabbat ke Side Effects, Anarkali, in her nazakat-bhare andaaz, declares that a 3BHK flat in Gurgaon means more to her than all of Salim’s grand romantic gestures.
When the prince promptly labels her a gold digger, you know this isn’t a tender Mughal romance playing out before you.
The narrative welcomes you to a world where royal courtship comes laden with relationship red flags and modern-day complications.
Throw in a generous dose of cheeky social commentary, and you have a comedy that takes a humorous swipe at all and sundry.Salim is a lovelorn aashiq determined to win over a decidedly unimpressed Anarkali.
His ladylove, however, is a bona fide material girl, largely unmoved by the prince’s grand romantic overtures.
Instead, she demands proof of his citizenship and insists on seeing his kagzat.
But Anarkali’s reluctance is only one of Salim’s many problems.
Before he can dream of marrying her, he must first get his saltanat in order.There is, however, one small hitch.
Akbar, Salim’s father, has little faith in his son and refuses to approve of Anarkali until the prince proves his worth by quelling a rebellion sparked by the kingdom’s disgruntled dead subjects.To get to the bottom of the crisis, Salim’s trusted minister, Durjan Singh, resurrects a corpse from the city’s kabaristan.
As the dead man recounts the events that plunged the kingdom into turmoil, decades of oppression and injustice come shambling out of the grave with him.
A naive Salim finally sees through his father’s nafrat ki rajniti driving the state of unrest and chaos in the empire.
Armed with this newfound clarity, Salim finds the courage to stand up to Akbar.
But will love finally win over hate? That’s for the audiences to find out.While the play uses humour and satire to convey its social message, it loses sight of the Salim-Anarkali romance that anchors the narrative.
Salim emerges with a distinct character arc, but Anarkali is reduced to a plot device, entering and exiting the stage whenever the story demands her presence.
And therein, perhaps, lies the real side effect of this mohabbat-bhari dastan.Stay updated with the latest Delhi Times news.
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