‘Jhumkewali’ brings the giddy joy of first love to Bengaluru

The imagination is a wondrous place where ideas take root and bloom. The crushing crowds on Mumbai’s local trains didn’t stop Ami Bhansali from adding a dreamy twist to the monotony of her daily routine.

“I was sitting in the local train, and wondered how this practice of selling trinkets to commuters began. My hypothesis was a lady deeply in love started it so her girlfriend could buy jhumkis whenever she pleased,” says Ami, who admits she enjoys watching people try, buy and sell these traditional bell-shaped danglers on trains.

This flight of fancy first took shape as a short story at a writer’s workshop before it became a play she collaborated on with Nidhi Krishna, and Ami is quite clear Jhumkewali is, “a love story, and not a tale of coming out”.

According to Ami, the recent passing of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026, has left many in the community feeling vulnerable and a story such as Jhumkewali would be a welcome respite. “Our team has quite a few non-binary and trans people, and it is important for us to keep making queer and trans-centric art, and do our bit to spread queer joy.”

Scenes from previous stagings of Jhumkewali
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Set in 1974, Jhumkewali is a sweet story of first love between Rekha and Bindu, two .college goers, who first bond over their penchant for earrings. The play follows them as they revel in the headiness of a budding romance despite the happenings around them.

Ami lauds the efforts of Arjoon Kabir Kakkar and his show Jismaan Ton Paar on being a trans-man, and Anureet Watta of Don’t Interrupt While We Dance, a film about a group of queer friends, and others, whose works spread awareness on their lives.

“The whole idea of this play, especially in current times, is to provide queer and trans people a space where they need not worry about how difficult the outside world is. When they are in the theatre watching the play, we want them to feel happy and safe, and enjoy this celebration of love.”

Ami says that when Jhumkewali debuted a little over a year ago, the team never thought this simple love story with a touch of humour “would grow into something much bigger”. Since then, it has been staged multiple times in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, besides an online screening for the NAMNAM Collective in Tokyo.

Written by Ami Bhansali and directed by Nidhi Krishna and Mekhala, Jhumkewali produced by Haus of Bhaus will be performed by Lauren Robinson and Harshini Misra, for the first time in Bengaluru.

(Jhumkewali will be staged at Jagriti Theatre on June 27; 3.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets, priced at ₹500, available on BookMyShow.)