Written by: Mirza Salam Ahmed
Posted on: August 20, 2018 | 
| 中文
The King's court
As the nation sees its 22nd Prime Minister Imran Khan begin his journey in power, a political-satire masterpiece ‘Panja Shikanja’ is gracing the stage at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA). The nation is still fresh from the political divide caused by the elections and the play aptly reflects the dark side of politics, leaders and monarchy, whilst revealing the disparity of life between the common populace and the elite.
Panja Shikanja, scripted and directed by Jamal Shah, director general of PNCA, tells us the story of a brooding cat, her five innocent kittens, an expositor rooster, a hilariously sarcastic dog, a rebellious labourer and a sadistic King played by Jamal Shah.
The drama playfully tip toes around the socio-political-culture of our country. It begins with a blind beggar, narrating the story of an obsessively dreaming labourer and his cat, played by Naeema Butt, which gives birth to five kittens that start chanting ‘Long Live the King’ as soon as they are born. The miraculous kittens grab everyone’s attention —and a battle to win the ownership of the kittens ensues.
The battle stars an honest policeman, a Chinese investor, a corrupt politician, a greedy religious leader, a pseudo social worker and her power hungry husband, who is a high-ranking government official. Amidst this battle the labourer, called Miru, and his pets; the cat, the rooster and the dog, engage in philosophical debates about good governance and mankind’s nature.
Miru, who supports the ideology of change, is worried about the fate of the kittens. Eventually, they are confiscated by the king, who is advised by his ministers to put on a grand show of the kittens in front of the world. The king sends invites to the entire world, and calls upon his kingdom to attend the grand event, which is aired live globally.
However, at the ‘Unveiling,’ instead of hailing the king, the kittens start chanting, ‘Down with the King’, which sparks a revolution. Enraged, the king launches an investigation to uncover who is plotting against him. He is unable to find any answers, despite torturing all the suspects — till the cat finally reveals that the kittens only opened their eyes on the fifth day since their birth, and so what they said reflected the reality, which coincidently was the day of their unveiling.
The play touched many important issues in our society. It made the audience think about their role in the society, and the value of integrity, as a human being. Minutes after a profound dialogue, the play would make the audience erupt in peals of laughter. The casting was done exceptionally well, and that is perhaps why each character in the play was brimming with energy —in spite of performing twice each day.
Miru played his role quite well, but had to share the limelight with Naeema the cat, whose expressions quite often left audience in stunned silence. Despite their brilliant performances, it was the dog that won all the hearts. His comic relief lightened up the dull scenes, and his intellectual approach in questioning his relationship with mankind was moving. One could argue that perhaps the costumes and makeup could have been done better, but for a satirical play they were good enough.
Overall, it was marvellously executed with good music, colourful dances and on-point delivery by Jamal Shah and his team, which also included Ali Saleem, more popularly known as Begum Nawazish Ali, Wang Shan, Babar Niazi, Yar Mohammmad, Sooraj Khan, Asif Shah, Waqar Azeem, Samreen Ali and Saeed Anwar.
You may also like:
