Salma Deewani at The Junction, Dubai

Written, directed and performed by Bhagyashree Tarke Synopsis:

Salma Deewani is a light-hearted take on life and a narrative placed in a one-day scenario. One Sunday morning, when Salma’s children are already awake and out to play, her beautiful dream is disturbed by the milkman.

This triggers the part of her that is struggling with life without her husband being around and kicks starts a rollercoaster of banter,bickering, frustration, her love for theBollywood star and other nonsense through her story from childhood to now, until a phone call from her husband who’s in the gulf tells her about an opportunity where she can meet her idol, her love Salman Khan.

Across this, almost one-hour play, Salma details out her shenanigans as a young girl and then how her life is caught up in the daily grind of household chores She finds a joyful escape in her love for Salman Khan, who she supports strongly and fiercely defends him against all the allegations that might have been hurled at him.

The play comes across as a satire about the difficulties of early marriages, loneliness, fan following and ignorance. In its core, it is political and gender conscious.

Director’s Note:

From where I come, which is the old city of Hyderabad, dominated by a domicile of the Muslim community and the society that thrives on humor besides other things, I was a witness to the lives of several women within the conservative structure.

Their lives, which seem mundane on the surface, were also fascinating, complex and humorous at the same time.

The adulation and love the women have for this particular star of the Indian film industry, Salman Khan, is a phenomenon that amused me and inspired me to take it further. Though Salma is a Muslim girl, the character represents a wide gamut of women across several communities whose husbands live abroad to earn a livelihood while the ladies alone manage the household and everything that comes with it.

The reason I chose a Hyderabadi dialect is because it has an innate humour and lightness that I hope can permeate our lives. The performance is an attempt at bringing together the concept of absurdity and realism on stage, through imagery, audience interaction, and storytelling.