1-888-DIAL-INDIA: A Review

Anuvab Pal’s 1-888-DIAL INDIA directed by Sriram Vengalathur for Shunya, Houston’s South Asian theatre troupe, opened to a packed house on Feb 4th at Barnevelder Movement Arts. Hordes of Houstonians braved the sub-zero temperature and snow scare to witness what turned out to be a superbly acted, thought provoking, yet, highly entertaining play. The script is not only humorous and witty, but also laced with references to some of the most compelling issues seen in Indian society today.

WARNING: Spoiler alerts ahead!

The play is set in a Mumbai call center that serves as a suicide hotline for American clientele. It follows the outrageous Mumbai entrepreneur Arun Gupta, as he works to create the next Google with the help of his two employees.The USP of this farcical play, second only to the superb script is the impeccable casting. Director Vengalathur with his Shunya team did a fantastic job casting each role with almost scientific precision.

The male lead Arun (Abhiroy Cheema) plays the character of the slick haired, Reid and Taylor wearing, lascivious, swear-a-minute, pseudo-Americanized, megalomaniac boss, who thinks his new idea is the next Google! Boy, does he get into the skin of the character or what! His body language, vocal quality, and his “chaaluness” screamed Arun right from his opening scene. His intense gazes and his courtroomish outbursts lent a lot of credibility to the ruthlessness of his character, only to be complemented by his hilarious sales pitches for the suicide hotline.

Prateek Karkal as Ramesh/Greg, floored the audience with his comic timing, perfect “desi” accent, vocal quality, and body language. He performed the role of the good-boy trying to make it in the big bad world of Call centers to a T. His attempts at sucking up to his boss and his “Westernifcation” are not only spot on, but also capture the essence of a typically ambitious, but clueless call center employee. Overall, he has the funniest lines in the play and he effortlessly manages to induce a chuckle with each one of them.

Jesal Kapasi as Reshmi/Hilary plays a naive girl who believes that saving American lives is the best job there is. Being the star performer and the “boss’s pet” at work gives her the edge and courage to start grabbing life by the horns. Hers is probably the most complex part in the play where the character grows with every scene. Jesal transforms effortlessly from a wide-eyed girl in pigtails and ‘salwar kameez’, to the sassy girl in high heels gyrating to Carmen Electra’s “horny” music, to “fit in” and keep up with “times”. The change in equation with her conservative, single mother from docile to devil-may-care was brought out superbly by the director. The human side of this pole dancing, go getter girl, shines throughout the play.

The supporting cast made their mark in the roles that were well etched out for them. Sara Kumar as the psychotic 13 year old Amy obsessed with Scarlett Johansson was brilliant and very believable. Yaksha Bhatt charmed one and all with her pole dancing skills as Reshmi’s single mother who leaves her rummy-playing days behind to secretly embrace the coveted pole, and a second chance at love. Kent Page as the “homo man” accent coach from West village was convincing, as was Sibin Chacko as Osama Bin Laden. Sundy Srinivasan as the IAS officer father of Ramesh shines as the once-disapproving-now-transformed “victim” of call center culture. Ramesh’s sister played by Sakshi Bahadur was entertaining as a symbol of “sexy India” with her “kapde utaro” parties and her facebook shaadi! Dianne Webb as the conservative, Jesus freak accent coach was a good balance to Kent’s uber gay energy on stage.

Director Sriram Vengalathur’s debut directorial effort was highly commendable. He has kept the narration taut and interesting, and done a great job of highlighting the strong points of each actor without over-directing them. The costumes need a special mention as they added to the hilarity of the scenes. Set design was minimal and non-distracting. There were really no glaring character inconsistencies or plot glitches in this play.

Apart from being a laugh riot, the play highlights some issues that have crept into the Indian middle class with the arrival of call center culture. Abandonment of values in the wake of higher disposable income being one – for instance, Ramesh’s character succumbs to the vileness of his boss’s ways after his family starts seeing him as their cash cow. The “Chalta hai” attitude among Indians without regard to life or feelings of another human being, is another. Rampant sexual harassment at the workplace has been shown through Arun and Reshmi’s characters.

Finally the boundaries of outsourcing are pushed when Arun outsources Reshmi’s mother and pitches an idea to outsource love from US to a head honcho. Even though issues like mooching off of American consumers and suicide among Americans are presented in this play, the audience does not dwell too much on them. We are quickly whisked off to a happy place by the next funny line and then the next! First and foremost, the play entertains, but somewhere, it also leaves you thinking.

If I haven’t made it clear thus far, I’ll say it here,1-888-DIAL-INDIA is a must watch!! Overall, the play is well worth every penny of the $15, and every second of the two hours you spend splitting your sides with laughter. Catch one of the 5 shows on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from February 4th-13th at Barnevelder Movement Arts. Information is available at www.ShunyaTheatre.org and tickets are $15 at www.Tickets2Events.com.

(Because of strong language and innuendo, this play is not for children).

About the Author

Shyam Anandampillai Has Written 15 Articles For Us!

Shyam Pillai is, in his own words, an Engineer who crossed over to the colorful side of life; an artist, writer and actor trapped inside the body of a techie! He is a true-blue Bangalorean at heart and a yuppie Houstonian for now. He immensely enjoys movies, ALL kinds of movies – give him a Satyajit Ray with a side of David Dhawan and he’s a happy little camper. Besides acting in theater and working on short films, he enjoys writing about Movies – actors, reviews, fashion and a bit of tattle (didn’t hurt anyone!).Oh, and he is also a self-proclaimed relationship “expert” who likes to write about dating, finding, chasing, losing, and being in love! Carrie Bradshaw says,“When real people fall down in life, they get right back up and keep walking.” – he just threw it in there since he loves her so much! Shyam is a long standing NETIP member and a regular NETIP columnist for the Voice of Asia. He is also an avid traveler and dreams to backpack for a living, someday!

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