Anil Baba and the Ponzi Scheme — a story of two brothers, one rich and one poor

• Cinderella is plump and her prince is Nick Jonas, a pop sensation
• It’s Alexa who gives Snow White’s stepmom a reality check
• Aladdin’s genie finds love in the end

Students of Future Hope gave traditional fairytales a modern twist at an inter-house drama fest at the Mahadevi Birla World Academy auditorium on Friday.

The scripts were a collaborative effort by the students — mostly first-generation learners — and echoed their lives, dreams and latest fads.

The last performance of the evening by Cobra house — Anil Baba and the Ponzi Scheme — was a humorous take on the Ambani brothers camouflaged within Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Marjeena the maid was named Mardala in the play.

Each house got 30 minutes to recreate a fairy tale on stage. The maximum number of actors allowed was 10. Technology was an integral part of every script.

While Snow White’s mother learned about her stepdaughter’s whereabouts from Instagram posts, the genie introduced Aladdin to TikTok to help him meet interesting girls. In the end, most plays resembled Bollywood potboilers, a favourite with the students.

“We enjoyed expressing ourselves through the scripts,” said Jhilli Singh of Class XII who played the lead role in Another Cinderella.

The audience saw some Page 3 celebrities recreated through the eyes of children.

“Who does not want to be the richest man in India? He has everything. I am glad I got to play him at least,” said Anash Hossain of Class X before he got on stage to play Mukesh Baba.

Elephant House’s Snow White and the Un(fair) Cream won the best script award. It had a social message too. Snow White aka Gulbadan always topped Alexa’s beauty charts despite her stepmother aka Gulbekaar “applying layers of fairness cream”.

Rahul Chakraborty played a queer designer who gave his friend a makeover for a fashion show in Another Cinderella. He walked away with the best actor award.

The children got 20 days to rehearse. For Raman Balmiki of Class X who played the genie, it was all about losing his voice.

“I had to practise speaking like a robot. I did that in the washroom, in front of my mirror and sometimes even in sleep,” laughed the boy who finds theatre as interesting as sports.

“I knew that the children would ultimately link the fairytales to their lives. It was interesting to see how they did it,” said Sujata Sen, the chief executive officer of Future Hope.