Play on Indian newlyweds is a hit in New York

PICTURE PERFECT: Rafta Rafta is in for an extended run in New York till the end of June.

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Keywords: Broadway, British Indians

New York: New York's theater row is buzzing with the success of the comedy Rafta Rafta. It riffs on two newlyweds seeking some privacy and finding none due to living within a typical extended Indian family, although this one is based in England.

“It's probably one of the first plays in which people are being made aware of the whole Indian influence in England. And that’s because they've made their own lives over there,” actor Reshma Shetty says.

Presented by The New Group, the play by Ayub Khan-Din may have some Hindi dialogue and a foreign setting, but it easily appeals to off-Broadway crowds.

Actor Manish Dayal says “Luckily the script is so well written, there's a lot of physical comedy and even if sometimes you don't understand the language or you don't understand certain Hindi gestures and so on, there's a lot of physical comedy that accompany and definitely help out with some of the jokes.”

Rafta Rafta is already a hit in New York and is in for an extended run till the end of June.

It won the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in England. The play has also received great reviews in publications like the New York Times.

The comedy stars veterans like Sarita Choudhury, Ranjit Chowdhry and Sakina Jaffrey and newcomers.

Americans got a little familiar with an Indian marriage with Monsoon Wedding. Now with Rafta Rafta American theatergoers are getting to know about the problems that come after the ceremony.