BEHIND THE SCENES: Basmati Bitch
Ahead of the much-anticipated release of Auckland Theatre Company’s Basmati Bitch at Q Theatre, Ankita Singh (playwright) shares her inspirations for the world and story of Basmati Bitch. From Kung Fu Hustle (a personal favourite!) to Cardcaptor Sakura, it’s no doubt that Basmati Bitch is going to be a vibrant, chaotic, and fantastic performance to lose yourself in.
Basmati Bitch is a genre-mash up - a neo-noir martial arts action-dark-comedy. It’s a reflection of my various interests and different forms of media I’ve consumed over the years. I also think this mash-up style is a trend in diaspora and immigrant stories across the globe, as our experiences of the world are a hectic blend of different cultures, languages, countries and worlds - it’s only natural that our work reflects this kaleidoscopic lived experience.
Below is a short list of some of the texts which have been major inspirations for me in creating Basmati.
I highly recommend checking any and all of these out - they are all extremely well crafted works of art and I only hope one day I can create something which is a fraction as brilliant!
Books:
City Of Thieves by David Benioff
Do yourself a favor and pick up this book if you haven’t already.
Basically, the story is set during the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad. A teenager named Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their skins by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake… or else. In a city cut off from all supplies - and suffering unbelievable deprivation, where people are literally eating each other - Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and behind enemy lines to find the impossible.
No spoilers but they become besties and end up killing some Nazis. This coming of age tale is a wild ride and you’ll probably cry at the end, I certainly did. I still think about it from time to time, with pathos.
Just like the eggs, Basmati has a similar mcguffin plot device - except instead of eggs, the two protagonists Shiva and Bisma are desperately trying to procure rice in a city which is slowly drowning due to endless rain. Basmati also has a similar dark, comedic tone, with the two main characters bickering like an old married couple while the world crumbles around them.
Mafia Queens of Mumbai by Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges
This is a non-fiction book about the real Queens of the underworld in Mumbai. It tells the meticulously researched true tales of 13 women who wheeled, dealed and in some cases got to the top of the Mumbai underworld… or died trying.
I thought it was pretty far-fetched to write about illegal rice dealing but bam, in the first chapter of this book we meet Jenabai Chaavalwaali - a real-life rice dealer turned bootlegger turned first Mafia Queen of Mumbai. Mafiosos like Karim Lala, Haji Mastan, Dawood Ibrahim and Varadarajan Wardha knocked on her door for advice and called her ‘massi’ and ‘apa.
I also thought it was far fetched to write about a timid office worker turned cold blooded gangster, but then I met Ashraf Khan aka ‘Sapna Didi’ in a later chapter - a pious, timid woman who turns into a proper motorcycle-riding, gun wielding, femme fatal hell bent on killing Dawood to avenge her husband's murder.
Both these women served as inspiration for Shiva and Bisma’s characters.
Films:
Snatch (2000)
A Guy Ritchie crime comedy set in the London underworld featuring an ensemble cast of crooked boxing promoters, match-fixers, diamond thieves, conmen and assassins.
The story intertwines two tales: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter who finds himself under the thumb of a ruthless gangster who is ready and willing to have his subordinates carry out severe and sadistic acts of violence.. Like feeding his enemies to his pigs.
The fast paced editing, slick snappy dialogue, wise cracking characters and underground match-fixing were all major inspirations for Basmati. The editing and camera movement in particular is something we were keen to try to recreate on stage.
Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
One of the most iconic films of all time, this Cantonese-language action comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Stephen Chow, who also stars in the lead role, revolves around a murderous neighbourhood gang, a poor village with unlikely heroes and an aspiring gangster's fierce journey to find his true self.
This incredibly stylistic film served as major inspiration for Basmati - in particular the Landlady was a major inspiration for the Mahjong Aunties - the best and most badass music act at The Dragon’s Dojo who don’t take shit from anyone. Of course the comical martial arts used in the film were also a major inspiration for the type of stage combat style in Basmati.
Misfits (2009-2013)
Misfits follows five delinquents sentenced to community service who are caught outside during a strange thunderstorm which gives them supernatural abilities. They all kind of hate each other but are forced to work together when they are attacked by their probation officer who has turned murderous after the electrical storm. They accidentally kill him in self-defense and are thus forever bonded by this dark secret. They work together throughout the first season trying to stop anyone else finding out about the death.
Just like in Misfits, Basmati is about a group of young adult misfits who are forced together by dark circumstances but end up bonding and creating a sort of family unit - aww.
Anime:
Baccano! (2007-2008)
This 16-episode anime was based on the light novel series of the same name. Baccano apparently means ‘ruckus’ in Italian and oh boy, does this anime live up to its name.
The series, set in a fictional version of prohibition era US, focuses on various people, including alchemists, thieves, thugs, Mafiosi and Camorristi, who are unconnected until an immortality elixir is recreated in 1930s Manhattan, the characters begin to cross paths setting off events that spiral out of control.
Oh and some of these oddball characters hijack a transcontinental express train called the Flying Pussyfoot. Just… stop reading this garbage and go watch this anime already!
I just love old-timey gangsters, jazz and speakeasy vibes - a lot of this is imbued into the aesthetic of Basmati especially in The Dragon’s Dojo - the bar/rice speakeasy in which the Basmati gang start their fight club.
And ofcourse, Basmati has a very similar energy when it comes to how a bunch of unrelated wacky and dangerous characters become entangled in a web of rice, setting off a series of events that quickly spiral into a violent out of control catastrophe.
Cardcaptor Sakura (1998-2000)
This uber cute, wholesome, slice of life magic girl anime might seem like a strange reference for Basmati but hear me out - the amount of homoerotic tension in this anime is off the chain. My tween self really, really wanted to see Yukito and Touya get together - I mean they kinda do but it’s only implied - ya know?
I guess that’s why I wrote a wholesome gay relationship into Basmati.
You’re welcome, 13-year-old Ankita.
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