Girah: Digest at your own Risk!

“Girah is an Urdu word which means ‘tangled’, ‘snarled’, jumbled, or ‘muddled’.”

A team of young artists presented a drama, “Girah” at Lok Virsa, Islamabad. A bloggable story that revolves around six mentally challenged men, crazed by guilt, and vexed by our society.

Girah is the effort of ‘The Curtain Raiser Productions’; the play is written by Imran Khan, and directed by Muhammad Ali Farooqi. The caste includes Muhammad Ali Farooqi, Imran Khan,  Abrar Bazmi, Sheheryar Shahid, Tahir Inqalab Syed, and Zain Tariq Sahi.

Storyline

The play is set in a mental asylum. Kicks off when one of the patients wakes up in the morning and impels other patients in the ward to get up with him. Assertive in behaviour, he pushes his mates to line-up for the ‘morning assembly’ in a funny manner. Audience goes all gaga at this moment.

Up and ready, the patients align themselves to sing a national song in chorus. But as being mentally challenged, none of them is fully attentive or capable of staying calm. The comedy transmits the audience to ponder over the facts of society. The lyrics of Dua seem ironic because they do not match with the situation of the asylum and even the society at large!

Meanwhile, a youthful nurse enters the ward. Seeing her, all the patients lose track of what they had done. They make the heartbeats stop and time for them ceases. They imagine the nurse to be dancing with one of their comrades…

One of her patients kicks up a fuss about her being rude, and unaware of his feelings for her. He insists on her staying there as he feels lonely without her. Actually, he confuses the nurse with his beloved who had left her. From there, spectators learn that the very guy burnt the whole building for his ladylove.

Other patients also behave more or less the same way in front of the nurse. But as she leaves the ward, they self-narrate their stories and the knot, unknots.

One amongst them is a revolutionary. He wanted to bring a change. He strived for it but there nothing changed, he learned that and that made him go crazy.

What Girah Portrays

Interestingly, one can draw multiple lessons from the play. For instance, the world is full of madness. Only psychologically challenged people should not be considered crazy. We are all insane in some way or the other. Some people are insane for money, others for fame, some are crazy for love and others are mad for revenge. If you want to learn more about the madmen, watch “Girah”.

What other lessons Girah offers are: life is a brutal punishment for many. The human mind, once tangled, can’t be out on track. Depression ends up in darkness. Guilt can kill you. Many people die inside every day!

Girah indeed brings six melancholic stories from our society that caused six men to lose their minds and end up dying in anonymity.

Girah Themes

Major themes of Girah include guilt, passion, hatred, social injustice, love, violence, chaos, and of course, ‘Sanity in Insanity’!

The play is full of irony and paradoxes, gloom and gravity. Girah shows how demented people can share the bleak realities of the so-called ‘normal society.

Overall, it is serious, heartbreaking, bleak, and tragic. It uncovers many barbaric realities through ‘mad’ and psychologically disturbed patients (that we usually laugh on). But the presentation of this play is sugar-coated with songs, rap, several funny punchlines, and slapstick comedy. And guess what, the best slapstick comedy artist, Sheheryar is one of the insane guys performing in this play.

Wanna know more?

In the drama, the writer has beautifully added several punch lines, paradoxes, metaphors. He has well-played with words and used them brilliantly to describe deeper meanings. For instance, at one place, a character uses the word ‘fire’ (aag in Urdu) in different ways: the fire of love, the fire of hatred, revenge, jealousy etcetera.

What’s NOT GOOD

What I did not like in the play was NOTHING literally. However, there is always room for improvement. So, if I were the writer of Girah, I might not have added too much brutality and violence in this play.

Instead of six different stories, one story could be focused on for more impact. And yes one more thing: the play lacked a ‘conclusion’. It would have been great if the play had a definite and less-graver ending.

ADD ONs

Many punchlines, slapstick comedy, and rap. Poetry was used beautifully as metaphors and similes in this play. So, those who are in love with poetry, better watch this play.

I would give this play 8/10. The boys did a great job, their performances were quite mature. We (the audience) actually enjoyed their efforts.

It has a highly nerve-breaking end. Since it is not an ordinary play, only mature spectators can untangle ‘girah’. It literally took me two hours to come out of the drama! 

CAUTION: DIGEST AT YOUR OWN RISK!