Theatre Review: Women Decoded - Finally Men Can Understand Women

Play : Women Decoded - Finally Men Can Understand Women
Duration : 50 minutes
Cast : Paritosh Painter
Language : English
Rating : *1/2
Review: If you’re looking for a super hit, entertaining formula for your movie, book or stand-up act, choose women as your topic. After all, whether it’s a guide to understanding the fairer sex or cheeky comparison of both the genders, most people enjoy the battle of the sexes.But, while a funny take on this topic is usually appreciated, it’s not difficult to overstep the boundary and enter the treacherous area of sexist humour. Unfortunately, Women Decoded, a new stand-up act, dangerously treads on that line.
This stand-up act, which claims to know all about women, fails on many levels. Scripted and presented by Paritosh Painter, who has previously been associated with plays like Uncle Samjha Karo and Paying Guests, doesn’t quite come up with anything unique or refreshing that you haven’t heard before.
For starters, most of the theories and gags are those eye-rolling SMS and internet forwards that have been spamming our inboxes since the dawn of time! And if you’re lucky to not have heard all the jokes before, the innumerable clichés about women — their silly fancies (shopping splurges), unreasonable attitude, supposed dominance over men, or conventional outlook towards love and sex — are simply too orthodox and dated. More than decoding and understanding women, you have a lot of gender comparisons happening, and a few preachy lessons (the dos and don’ts) on how to make a woman fall in love with her man. Unintentionally, the script shows women as an irrational species and so comes across as chauvinistic.
One of the sparingly good things about the show is that it doesn’t conform to the double-meaning style of stand-up comedy. Nowadays, clean humour, minus the foul language is a rarity in the entertainment industry and perhaps, this is Women Decoded’s biggest strength.
Yet, if you’re looking to laugh your head out with an amusing stand-up comedy, you can do so, with the numerous other shows playing across the city. This one is definitely avoidable.