Sunday, September 23, 2007

And now for something completely BORING!!! - A Rant

I went in with a lot of expectations for EVAM's show in Bangalore today. They called it "And now for something completely different", the funniest comedy show ever. You cannot believe how bad it was. I met a few faces I knew. And I know they have a funny bone, miles better than I do. And it was a universal verdict, BORING! I needed to get this out of my system otherwise, I cannot sleep. This blog is supposed to be my gentler side...yeah right! Did I tell you I hated it! And others detested it as well. There was a whole group that walked out to go to Lalitha's parathas during the interval. It was that bad.

From what little I know, comedy is not about wanting to be funny, but actually being funny. I felt that EVAM had taken the audience for granted. There were many people who wanted to laugh desperately, but it just did not happen. Of course, I met a couple of people who said that they had a good time. I felt pity...Their lives must really suck! Did I tell you that I hated the play!

The disappointment is doubled because, I am amazed at the guts of these guys Sunil, Karthik to do Evam as a business. It is terrific that they took the risk and dared to dream. I think they have built a brand rather assiduously and have a dedicated bunch of followers in Bangalore. Their is hype and their shows are sell outs. (Aside: I know what it is to desperately try and have a 1/2 filled show!). But I feel that they are taking the crowd for granted. If the bad word spreads (I am sure it will after the show I saw), then people will want to see more quality. Not just guffaws. Todays performance was a disappointment because the team tried too hard with their accent and squeaky voices (GOD some body as Karthik to talk normally). The timing was not there. There was a couple of new things. Something on Thalaivar - Da Boss, which I liked. There was this concept of using dancers to double as stage hands. There were some silly jokes that I smiled. May be I am being too harsh here. May be it was a bad show, but then again may be not! All I got to see was this one show and I did not like it. We know that by now, don't we!!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

if we disappointed , if we didnt come up to your expectations, if we didnt give you a great time ..we sincerely apologise.

and i mean it because we take pride in the work we do and we take our audience veru very seriously. "And now ..." from the pythonesque genre was meant to be silly, inteliggent, weird, and yet funny -so if it didnt work for you - we accept the verdict it didnt work for u .

we did "always ..." in july to standing ovations and encouraged by the response brought its sequel "and now for..." to bangalore, this genre also happens to be the most succesful of our shows across india.
i admit,we were a little loose in the aft show but we picked momentum in the eve- but if you didnt like it - thats fair enough.

i wish you had told me this post show in person , because as much as we get to hear the good things about a performance while during the show (thru the claps and laughs) we hardly get people who truly voice their complaints - am glad you did and our thanks for that.

We believe in telling stories with sincerety .. the genre might differ but we try to be true to the genre . "and now...." was meant to bust your stress! and feel good about your life:),we truly believe in the song we sang "always look on the bright side of life" and this show was meant to give the audience a rollicking time , forgetting their worries....

we hoped to deliver what we promised- no sham there.. will stay true to that- thats what a story teller has to do- stay true to the story he tells, the promise he makes to an audience.

am sorry again- we didnt deliver to your expectations - but trust us that was never our intention..we value the audience too much to take them for granted- this is our roti kapda aur makaan apart from the fact that this is what we love doing:)and we work hard and will work harder to get better at what we do- else we might as well quit!

taking the cue from you - there is no point starting on your own, being your own bosses, following your passion and building a brand if your work doesent mean quality !

So, do come for our next play, give us a chance to make up for it.we hope to give lalita's paratha's a run for their money:)

sunill
for evam

Dharu said...

Thanks for listening! I mean what I said, I am amazed at you guys for doing this. I will be there for the next show. And I am sure it will be a good one!