One play, many reviews …that’s what “Meri Jaan” a Creative Workshop project, an adaptation of the famous Tony award winning hilarious comedy 'Boeing Boeing'; by Dr. Enver Sajjad has had. None of these reviews have actually spoken of the drama itself, the actor’s performance or for that matter the marketing and overall advertising methods applied.The plot itself revolves around Jamil (Faisal Qureshi), a successful businessman, who juggles three flight attendant fiancĂ©es: Zareena (Mahwash Siddique), Nargis (Aiman Tariq) and Najma (Zhalay Sarhadi). He tracks their airlines' timetables through online networks, and his long-suffering housekeeper, Bari Amma (Afshan Qureshi), reluctantly resets the menus and bedroom decor depending on the arrivals and departures.
Jamil has been successful at convincing each girl that she is the only one. Jamil's old school friend Bashir (Saqib Khan) arrives unexpectedly joining the plot and creating waves ad laughter for the audience with his hilarious comments and reactions. Unfortunately for Jamil, a new and faster Boeing jet has been introduced, changing the timetable and along with weather delays complications arise when the girls' behavior does not match Jamil's careful planning. Bashir steps in to help Jamil by keeping one or more of the girls busy as they arrive ahead of (or behind) schedule.
It becomes more and more difficult for Jamil, Bari Amma and Bashir to keep the girls separate once they all arrive, and the lies told become more and more difficult to reconcile, resulting in a rib breaking farcical comedy.
To publicize, different mediums for adverting were applied ranging from billboards seen around Clifton and Defence to SMS, Viral Marketing and Facebook fan page. SMS is the most common medium for exchanging information these days. The very same was applied to publicize for the event as well, were messages where sent to all friends and family members highlighting the features and details bout the same.
The same was done on Facebook where a fan page was created and more than 500 people added or visited it just to get a glimpse of what they could be able to see once they got there.Viral marketing was applied to inform that free seats were available during the 1st few days of the play. This attracted many people to attend it and help in spreading the word of how humorous the play was so that others could come and enjoy as well.
Students, celebrities and people from all walks of life came to watch this play not only once but again and again. It was a show that was not only preferred by all. A lot of people came in for free because they preferred not paying even though they could afford it. It is a shame actually, they can spend money on the most obnoxious things ever but it took the life out of them to pay for a play.
Even though the play was for 15 days and still has 4 more days to go, I have seen it almost everyday and know all the dialogues by heart “balungri” and "naaa mumkinn" being my all time favorite. Every time I see it, there is a slight change in the act that makes it even funnier. The time sent and the marketing tactics applied shall be remembered forever and I can safely say that the days sent at the play will be the most memorable days of my life. =)
