'Rangeeli Shaam' entertains, educates

By Kathleen Grohman

The audience in Mayer Theatre clapped along so fervently with the "Bandari" Iranian dance that it felt as if they were about to jump out of their seats and start dancing along. The bright colors, upbeat music and large, well-choreographed and perfectly executed dance routines created a spectacle that brought the Bollywood musical to life and succeeded in celebrating South Asian culture in the third annual "Rangeeli Shaam" performance.

"Rangeeli Shaam," which means "a colorful evening," is a showcase of South Asian culture presented by Intandesh, one of Santa Clara's multicultural clubs that focuses on South Asia. This year, the show was a musical written and co-directed by senior Anjuna Antony, who was pleasantly surprised by the huge turnout -- 390 tickets sold.

According to Antony, Intandesh is important to the Santa Clara community because it represents a lot of countries and serves as a medium to educate the community on issues pertaining to South Asia. She said this medium is important "especially in today's political climate. There is a lot of dialogue about what is going on in Pakistan, India and Iran."

This year's show, called "Wathan Apna Apna," which means homeward bound, was set in an international airport where several people traveling to different parts of South Asia interact with each other.

Each of these skits, including a woman on her way to her sister's wedding, a famous Bollywood actress and her ex-boyfriend and a feminist and a fashion show director, introduced a dance performance. These dance performances, often reminiscent of Bollywood or traditional dances, were the highlight of the show.

"My favorite part was dancing. Indian dancing is something I have never really done, except classical dancing when I was little," said Jaya Pareek, a freshman member of Intandesh and actress in the show.

Antony got involved with Intandesh after performing in the show last year. After a few meetings, she got elected as co-chair and enthusiastically wrote the script for this year's show, which she based on personal experience. Antony got the idea for the show from an experience of waiting in an airport on her way to South Asia.

Her favorite skit is a brother and sister traveling back home after a long time, she said, because "It's about my own journey." Her favorite part to write was the interaction between the feminist, played by Pareek, and the fashion designer.

The show was not only about entertainment and celebration, although the particularly vocal audience enjoyed both. The show had an educational element, as well.

Pareek said that Intandesh "tries to foster community and educate students about not only Indian culture, but Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Iranian and Middle Eastern culture." To do so, they create events like the "Rangeeli Shaam" show. "I want the audience to understand that there is no one thing that is South Asian," Antony said. "There are many things, many cultures, many languages, many cuisines, so you can't generalize."

The inclusion of a documentary called "Question of Faith" about a young man's journey through Sikhism, especially his decision to cut his hair, helped to bring out the educational aspect of the show. The line of the play that Antony thought encapsulated her message was when a woman told a man who was discouraged by the problems in South Asia, "Well, you see, everybody here does something little, and all of that put together counts for something."

The show ended with the characters at the airport in a group hug, the cheesiness of which added to the semi-comic nature of the show. Antony said the theme is applicable for the whole world, not just South Asia. "We are many countries, but we need to start thinking outside of national boundaries and think of what we can do to improve our situation."

Contact Kathleen Grohman at (408) 551-1918 or kgrohman@scu.edu.