Following on from the success of There's Something about Simmy and 'The Deranged Marriage', Rifco Arts brought their latest production 'Where's My Desi Soulmate' on a UK tour
BY ILESH TOPIWALA | APR 6, 2009
'Where's My Desi Soulmate' looks at the changing trends as contemporary British Asians move away from the traditions of arranged marriage and look at new ways of finding a life partner, exploring new methods to find their soulmate. Or at least that's what the press pack says. What it really does is tell four different stories that analyse the theme of relationships, through a cast of four people.
With the typical ingredient of the boy meets girl online story, it does have the following one-true-love-right-under-your-nose-the-whole-time story. Though the most intriguing storyline is that of the widow Shusheila (Pooja Ghai) and Joggi (Ankur Bahl). Joggi a closet homosexual who has to re-adjust to life after his mother dies. It's a story of friendship that flits beautifully between comedy and tragedies, making us question the idea of finding a soulmate that is not necessarily our lover.
Watching their friendship bloom is no less touching than that of Rajen (Simon Rivers) falling in love with his assistant Preeti at the Pharmacy (Sharona Sassoon).
A production like this lives and dies on the performance of their players, and they don't disappoint. Each cast member plays a number of different characters under various guises, and they pull it off with aplomb. They are just as ease with the emotional scenes as they are with the comedy. Also what South Asian production would be complete without a good old song and dance? Not this one. From soca music to a Bollywood number via the ballroom, this delivers.
