Kathmandu:

Eager anticipation was written plainly on the faces of the majority of the members of the audience. Perhaps they were familiar with Maha’s (Madan Krishna Shrestha and Haribansha Acharya ) entertaining comedy routine and styles.

The curtain rose to reveal a set that included a chautari (sitting place under a tree) at the centre and a rural dwelling each on both sides reminding one of Maha’s latest television production Maha Chautari.

The gorgeous Gauri Malla in a red saree was emcee. Appearing on stage after four years, Malla had a lot of things to share, but the audience had no patience to listen to her. They wanted their favourite duo on stage.

The programme started with a song (written, composed and sung by Maha) about national feelings calling for all to keep watch to make this political change a lasting one. It was accompanied by visuals from Jana Andolan II.

Perhaps this was not the kind of beginning that the audience had expected for a programme commemorating Gai jatra.

Arjun Parajuli, known for reciting satrical poems while drinking from a twisted bottle, did not have a twisted bottle this time, maybe signifying the ‘non-twisted’ state of affairs. However, his poems still reflected on the latest political developments in the country and the Americans’ interest in it.

Maha then took to task the trend of felicitating every Tom, Dick and Harry. To score their point, they showed the police observing an ‘International Thief Day’ honouring the country’s greatest robber. However, a former army officer who comes to honour the thief claims himself to be a bigger burglar and asks that he be felicitated.

One will enjoy this piece, but if you’ve seen Maha’s telefilms, you will find some scenes and incidents are repeated here.

What makes news headline every day these days?

Yes, you’ve guessed it — high-level officials being called in for interrogations by the High Level Commission. But at Maha’s stage, it’s not high-level government officials being questioned, but Lord Shiva himself as everyone else had been questioned. This piece has successfully covered all the recent happenings and current affairs from disarmament to constituent assembly, 33 per cent reservation for women, Bagmati pollution to secularism, DV lottery to music and sports.

The Panchyat ko shradda was a direct satire on identifiable targets.

Maha’s show would not have been complete without a dohori. And they made a grand entry in an rickshaw with Madan Krishna pulling it, and Hari Bansha as an American lady visiting Nepal.

This was the first of the series of Tuborg Maha Gaijatra. The show will continue till August 19.

Spare us!

• Of course, one can’t escape politics, but to make politics the theme of every act becomes a bit too monotonous. During Gai jatra (at least), can we request for a break from politics for (at least) one act?

• Repetition of scenes from earlier television serials spoils the flavour.

• Too much of disco light is hurtful to the eyes.

• Humour and freedom of speech perhaps does not mean at the expense of some public personality’s personal life. It gets a bit too uneasy to laugh about.

• Children under the age of 10 (majority of them) will not enjoy the show. So, parents if you want to enjoy Maha’s humour to the fullest, you’ll have to make arrangements for a babysitter or ask a relative to look after them for the evening. This is said keeping your good intentions in view, and especially the person who will be seated next to you.