In celebration of the club’s 20th year of association, the Indian Students Association’s (ISA) 2026 Cultural Showcase, Berry Complicated, brought together nostalgia, iconic references, and cultural performances to create a memorable celebration of community and connection.
One feature that sets ISA’s Cultural Showcase apart from other student productions is the diversity of its performances. The show brings together classical Bharatanatyam, traditional Gujarati Garba, Vintage, Romance, Fusion, South, and Dunedin Bhangra Crew (DBC), showcasing a range of cultural traditions and contemporary dance styles within the ISA community.
The showcase follows med student Shamita “Sham” Iyer, who finds herself romantically torn between Abhaymanyu “Abhay” Shah, her best friend of 20 years, and Rohan “Rickie” Gill, the new guy who, at some point, happens to be her patient; because apparently professional and ethical boundaries are no match for romance. The boys turn a series of challenges, including a triathlon and a scavenger hunt around Dunedin campus, into a full-blown dick-measuring contest to prove who is the better option for Sham. Meanwhile, Sham insists that her relationship with Abhay is purely platonic, while a long romantic montage of her spending time with both boys suggests she is more than happy to keep her options open.
The ISA Show also brought plenty of great acting to the stage, with Dilkee Nanayakkara bringing Sham to life as an assertive and confident lead, Shaurya Rana playing Abhay as the classic boy-next-door, and Nirmal Mathivanan taking on Rickie, the broody “bad boy” who seems to have a personal vendetta against shirts with sleeves. The supporting cast may have been small, but they definitely made their mark; especially Coach Advait and Principal Niranjan Shankar, played by Rishi Ghosh and Jayshal Singh respectively. Their unexpected budding romance was a fun addition to the show, and with no real ending to their subplot, we’re choosing to believe they’re endgame.
A beloved character from last year's cultural show, Paired, also makes a reappearance in this year’s show. Pati, the sweet but cheeky grandmother whose witty remarks come with just enough bite to cut a bitch. Afiyah Khan’s performance as Pati is chef’s kiss: her line delivery and comedic timing were impeccable, so honestly, it’s no wonder they had to bring her back. Admittedly, Critic Te Ārohi was rather confused at seeing her ISA cinematic universe appearance as we were under the impression that she had died in the last show. And no, it was not an open interpretation death, because they had a full-on death scene with flatlining audio and people crying over her body. Whispers amongst the crowd suggest that we weren’t the only one who remembered this. No grave can keep Pati down, especially when there’s a character played by Shaurya Rana around to sass.
Sham’s family also makes an early appearance, with a fight between Sham and her parents opening the show and her younger brother Manny comforting her. Divyash Swami and Maleesha Gamage were highly convincing as Sham’s parents, while Gayanuka Rodrigo brought plenty of spunk to Manny. Their appearances were limited, despite the strong introduction to their characters. Similarly to last year’s cultural show, a major family conflict is introduced as though it will be important, only for the family to essentially disappear from the story afterwards. Sham is portrayed as very family-focused and determined to make her family proud, so it feels like a missed opportunity that this conflict is ultimately resolved without her family having any real involvement in it.
ISA took feedback from previous years on board, particularly around the long transitions between scenes, with a clear focus this year on keeping things moving through quicker, smoother transitions and minimising downtime. The shorter gaps were noticeable and much appreciated, with skits helping fill some of the gaps while scene and costume changes took place behind the curtain. The skits were funny and well developed, with nods to other Indian films and popular media, and a stellar job by the filming team in bringing them together. The gaps were apparently so short that one of the actors barely had time to put their shoes on between costume changes, resulting in a number of entrances barefoot while everyone else was fully shod. Honestly, not the worst problem to have.
From the context clues, Critic gathered that the show was inspired by the iconic Bollywood film Student of the Year, although this was never actually mentioned in the promotional material. Mentioning this upfront could have given audiences some helpful context for the references and humour throughout the show, particularly those who were unfamiliar with the original film. This author ended up translating and explaining bits to a friend throughout the night, which made it clear that some of the references and jokes may not have been immediately obvious to non-Indian viewers. The show did a great job of translating most of the Hindi dialogue, but there were a few moments where some of the jokes may have been lost on non-Hindi speakers. Hindi-speaking audience members would often laugh before the English translation appeared, meaning the punchline had already landed by the time the rest of the audience understood it. While this didn’t affect the overall storyline, it could make some of the humour and character interactions harder to fully appreciate if you didn’t understand the Hindi, leaving some jokes lost in translation (literally).
The dances were a major highlight as usual, with the high-energy routines keeping the audience hyped throughout. The traditional and classical performances were especially beautiful, with gorgeous costumes that added to the overall impact of each performance. Romance was definitely a personal favourite, although this author might be a little biased after dancing in it last year. The smoke machine during “Jhol” was also such a gorgeous addition during the climax of the show- kudos to whoever managed to make that happen.
Side note: the show is called Berry Complicated, but not once was a berry mentioned. We kept waiting for some kind of berry-related plot point or reference to eventually make sense of the title, but nothing. Are we missing some context here? If someone knows the story behind the name, please fill us in. We would genuinely love to know.
The show ended with a touching montage of videos spanning the past 20 years, celebrating the people who have been part of ISA and walked the same path before. Seeing old performances, familiar faces, and glimpses of ISA through the years made the ending feel especially meaningful, bringing the whole 20-year celebration full circle. It was a genuinely lovely way to close the show and, honestly, couldn’t have been more fitting. An amazing job from ISA. Can’t wait to see where you go next.
