"JALOOS"

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May - 1984 (Lahore Cantt)


Written by: Badil Sarkar
Directed by: Madeeha Gauhar

“Jaloos” was the first ever Ajoka play performed in May 1984 in a house lawn in Lahore. It was an adaptation of Badal Sarkars Bengali play ‘Machal’. The play is a social satire. It is a montage of our daily life with hard hitting comments on the waywardness of the youth, the insensitivity of the press, the violation of women’s right and the repressive machinery of the state. The “jaloos” is formed, it breaks, and is formed again. It is the essence of being. Common suffering unites the people. The “Jaloos” does not march out with slogans. It represents the hungry and the disinherited, the unclad, the homeless and the tortured.

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Review: To an audience sickened by the steady dose of drawing room farces, “ Jaloos” revealed the possibilities of the stage as a powerful medium of entertainment and sociopolitical criticism. Conceived and produced as a series of quick sequences and skits, the play depend on relentless pace and immaculate timing for its success. Although the play contained a consistently progressive message, it was not allowed to show down the action by monologues, or even long exchanges. (The Star, May 31, 1984)