KARACHI: Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi’s 21-day “Awami Theatre Festival” is underway with great enthusiasm.

On the festival’s fifth day, the Balochi drama “Wash Rang” (“Beautiful”) was performed at AC Auditorium II.  The play “Wash Rang” was written and directed by Danish Baloch, with Wali Raees as assistant director. The cast included Abeeha Pyari, Danish Baloch, Shakeel Murad, Zareen Askani, Javed Iqbal, Atta Gul, Atta Deedag, Waqas Baloch, Yaseen Baloch, Nadeem Maliri, and Lal Muhammad Askani. The story of “Wash Rang”, which means “beautiful,” unfolds with the hero admiring a beautiful girl named Wash Rang.  Accompanied by his father, he goes to her home to propose marriage. However, upon seeing Wash Rang, the father becomes interested in marrying her himself. This sparks a dispute between father and son that escalates to the police station.

The police officer, too, is captivated by Wash Rang’s beauty and expresses his desire to marry her.  The case is then taken to a minister who, upon seeing Wash Rang, declares her his fiancée. Failing to resolve the matter, they all approach the city’s wealthy leader, who claims Wash Rang as his long-lost fourth wife.  To settle the issue, Wash Rang proposes that she will run, and whoever catches her will be the one to marry her. All the men chase after her, but they fall into a well. Wash Rang compare herself as a “beautiful world” they are pursuing is beyond their reach.  The men plead for help, promising to reform their ways. But Wash Rang reminds them that their time has run out; when they were outside the well, they had the opportunity to improve themselves, but instead, they chose to pursue worldly desires. In the end, everyone in the well drowns, and Wash Rang disappears, concluding the play.

The drama highlighted the futility of chasing worldly pleasures and the inevitability of our ultimate end. The audience attended in large numbers, thoroughly enjoyed the story, and applauded the performers enthusiastically.