‘Dirty Biryani’, to be staged in Hyderabad, raises a toast to sisterhood and female solidarity

In the television world of storytelling, Somya Tewari missed seeing authentic conversations between women. “They are either shown to be too polished or too mellow. This is not how we talk,” says the writer of the play Dirty Biryani to be staged at Rangbhoomi Spaces in Hyderabad.

Directed by Snehil Basoya and written by Somya, who is also the founder of Bengaluru-based Madari Productions, the play follows three women’s lives and experiences on stage. Theatre lovers get to see the drama unfolding when three highly-opinated women of different ages are together in a space with no way out.

With a bit of humour and songs

 Somya Tewari
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Special Arrangement

Dirty Biryani is a new production with nine shows since March this year. The play has dialogues in Hindi and English interspersed with humour and songs. When Somya looked at her own conversations with her friends, relatives and co-workers, she realised how different yet unique each one’s personality is.

“We are sometimes loud and humorous but not always loving, emotional, submissive or correct about everything. We are angry, serious and also confront each other a lot.” Dirty Biryani has many pop culture references and contemporary topics. It shows conflicts among women and their differences of opinion in topics such as mental health, politics, men and how to see, manage, talk about them, or what to expect from them.

Importance of empathy

Finding empathy despite the disagreements
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Special Arrangement

As Somya’s writing process continued, the idea evolved into finding empathy and female solidarity despite the disagreements and differences. The crux of the play highlights the underlying emotion of a collective bond that women share among themselves. “Each generation has their own idea of how to be a good/bad woman and what is right/wrong. A certain group might find some conversations uncomfortable but they will also find something relatable in others.”

Presenting intense conversations in a lighthearted way was a challenge for Somya. The 100-minute musical play also has actors express and communicate through physical humour without words. “Although women are the main characters, the play is relevant for men too as it talks about human issues, the emotional ups and downs and conflicts. I think even men can imagine having those conflicts within themselves or with their fathers or colleagues.”

Layered like a biryani

Scene from the play
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Special Arrangement

The ‘biryani’ in the title comes from its layered conversations. Just like a pot ofbiryani bursts with flavours and layers, the play’s different elements — words, main narrative and subtext, has a nuance of its own. The conversations are also messy as they have conflicts in them which gives it the title, Dirty Biryani.