Dancing butterflies
Finally today the myth has been proven right. I am the only gay in the village. After seeing next to none gay Indian guys on Fair Day I thought that when I did go to see the play Butterflies in the Mughal Garden there would be a presence of atleast a good number Indian or South Asian men but once again I felt like a minority within a minority. The theater was small but was filled to capacity and there were only 7 or 8 Indian men in the crowd. Well there was the crew and cast which was predominately Indian or South Asian and that was comforting but nevertheless the crowd a bit disappointing for the lack of Indian brethren.
The play on the other hand was a labour of love. Though not prefect but then who am I to critique. This was the first time I had gone to a theater to see a play. The crew and cast had put in a lot of time, money and effort into the play and it must have been quite a journey for a few to come out in drag and do the song and dance routine in front of all these people. I can't even gather the courage to dance in my bathroom so I am not the right person to criticize or analyze their efforts. The actors were rather good and the ones that I thought did a great job were Kunal, Gary and Raj. At times I did feel that some songs were rather frivolous or put in to give some of the cast their 15 minutes of fame or just to accommodate them but to see the western audience clap after every song and dance routine I understood that most people would have expected that from an Indian play. Karthik I thought was the most convincing in the drag and did a great job at the dance sequence especially Tere Ishq Nacahaya and so did Raj. I am not trying to play down the efforts of the rest of the cast because you could feel the passion of each one of them through their acting. The funniest part of the play was when at the end the only Aussie in the cast Nick tried to dance to a Indian song. I don't know why it is this way but most westerns look rather uncomfortable when doing an Indian dance routine and Nick looked very shy and uncomfortable. Overall the play was great and much better than the Japanese movie that I saw on wednesday except for the fact that the venue was a little difficult to find not just for us but for some other people too.
After the play I had my first Indian meal in Sydney at a Pakistani Restaurant in Newtown. To food was nothing to write home about but it was nice to finally hear all these people speak in hindi and punjabi. I never though I'd be so excited to hear someone say "Shukriya" (thanks in Urdu).
Today I saw a play in a theater for the first time and understood what my friend Gil (an Israeli theater artist and director) had to say. He told me that theater is not about making money or even fame for that you would have to join the movies. It's about doing something you love and you are passionate about and feeling blessed that each day you got to a workplace that you love being in and where each day gives you an opportunitiy to grow emotionally and spiritually. And I guess the direct contact with the audience just adds to all the excitement. Bravo Salaam Namaste (the group behind the play) on trying to introduce the people of Sydney to another side of India!!
Tomorrow I am off to see Garfield and his friend who I think is gay with what I have heard about him. So I am going to try to out him tomorrow for Garfield. And after that we'd be going to see Jodha Akbar which is a 3 hours 40 minutes movie and I am bracing myself for it and hoping that it is entertaining and not a drag (no pun intended).
The play on the other hand was a labour of love. Though not prefect but then who am I to critique. This was the first time I had gone to a theater to see a play. The crew and cast had put in a lot of time, money and effort into the play and it must have been quite a journey for a few to come out in drag and do the song and dance routine in front of all these people. I can't even gather the courage to dance in my bathroom so I am not the right person to criticize or analyze their efforts. The actors were rather good and the ones that I thought did a great job were Kunal, Gary and Raj. At times I did feel that some songs were rather frivolous or put in to give some of the cast their 15 minutes of fame or just to accommodate them but to see the western audience clap after every song and dance routine I understood that most people would have expected that from an Indian play. Karthik I thought was the most convincing in the drag and did a great job at the dance sequence especially Tere Ishq Nacahaya and so did Raj. I am not trying to play down the efforts of the rest of the cast because you could feel the passion of each one of them through their acting. The funniest part of the play was when at the end the only Aussie in the cast Nick tried to dance to a Indian song. I don't know why it is this way but most westerns look rather uncomfortable when doing an Indian dance routine and Nick looked very shy and uncomfortable. Overall the play was great and much better than the Japanese movie that I saw on wednesday except for the fact that the venue was a little difficult to find not just for us but for some other people too.
After the play I had my first Indian meal in Sydney at a Pakistani Restaurant in Newtown. To food was nothing to write home about but it was nice to finally hear all these people speak in hindi and punjabi. I never though I'd be so excited to hear someone say "Shukriya" (thanks in Urdu).
Today I saw a play in a theater for the first time and understood what my friend Gil (an Israeli theater artist and director) had to say. He told me that theater is not about making money or even fame for that you would have to join the movies. It's about doing something you love and you are passionate about and feeling blessed that each day you got to a workplace that you love being in and where each day gives you an opportunitiy to grow emotionally and spiritually. And I guess the direct contact with the audience just adds to all the excitement. Bravo Salaam Namaste (the group behind the play) on trying to introduce the people of Sydney to another side of India!!
Tomorrow I am off to see Garfield and his friend who I think is gay with what I have heard about him. So I am going to try to out him tomorrow for Garfield. And after that we'd be going to see Jodha Akbar which is a 3 hours 40 minutes movie and I am bracing myself for it and hoping that it is entertaining and not a drag (no pun intended).
Jodha Akbar trailer
Video Uploaded by write2nix
Video Uploaded by write2nix
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