Daily Times

KARACHI: ‘Mian Biwi or Wagha’, a theatre play, highlights stories of Pakistani-Indian couples settled in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) because of immigration issues preventing them from settling in either of the spouse’s home country.

The play, conceived by Amna Khilji, who was born in Pakistan but married an Indian and then got settled with her husband in the UAE, is set to be performed at the Arts Council of Pakistan on March 31 and April 1.

Speaking about the play on Wednesday, Khiji said she brought together artists with similar marital arrangements for the play.

Khilji said that at first, she and her team thought that it would be hard to introduce such a play in Pakistan. They have performed the play in the UAE and in the Indian capital of Delhi, and have now arrived in Karachi for the purpose.

“India is my in-laws’ country. We were amazed to get such a positive response from the people of India. Now I want to introduce this theatre performance to my own country, and I hope to get the same positive response from the people of Pakistan.”

Dhruti Shah D’souza, the director of the play, said Mian, Biwi, or Wagha was the first ever theatre play produced in in Urdu language in Dubai.

“Dubai is probably the only place on the globe where both Indians and Pakistanis live together. We have told the life stories of such couples.”

She said though the play was about issues faced by Indo-Pak couples in Dubai but Pakistanis and Indians in general could also relate to the plot.

Wagha is a character in the play, who gets amazed after learning that Pakistani-Indian couples are living amicably in UAE, and that there are no clashes between them. The character time travels back to the Subcontinent in 1947 to refresh old memories.

The play also depicts how the couples write letters to their families back home in Pakistan and India, separated by the Wagha border.

Music and Lighting has been used to create special effects.

Arts Council president Mohammad Ahmed Shah, while speaking to the media, said that the play would be the first of its kind to be performed from the platform of the arts council. He said he was glad that the council would highlight the issues faced by such couples living thousands of miles away from their families because of administrative hassles.

Published in Daily Times, March 29^th 2018.