Rafta, Rafta… (Slowly Slowly) is the first (relatively) big-budget desi play I’ve seen in New York, maybe the first ever. And that is notable in its own right. The production has enough funding to splash out on an eye-catching set. It’s a play, not a Bombay Dreams-style musical, though DJ Rekha contributed the bhangra. The writing of Ayub Khan-Din (East is East) is far better than the neutered American version of Dreams. And unlike some of the Dreams talent, none of the actors are first-timers.

If you grew up in the ’90s, you probably have fond memories of Sarita Choudhury, Sakina Jaffrey and Ranjit Chowdhry as they starred in diaspora flicks. In Rafta, Rafta…, Jaffrey changes her bra on stage, Reshma Shetty shows off her abs, there’s comic sex set to the beat (beat, beat) of a dhol. Yes, yet again we’re importing something interesting from the West End. But for all the production’s faults, I want to acknowledge at the outset how pioneering it is.

The Acorn Theatre is an intimate venue, and Rafta, Rafta…’s striking set dominates the stage. It’s a 2BR, working-class British Asian home in present-day Oldham, rendered in cutaway. At top left, the master bedroom; top right, the married kids’, the scene of much funny pelvic fumbling; bottom left, the kitchen; bottom right, the living room. Every room except the kitchen is swathed in horrible flocked wallpaper. In Oldham, it seems, painted walls show lack of class. The kitchen gets its own orange-and-brown tread and a puzzling khanda flag, while Krishna and other Hindu paraphernalia adorn the sitting area. The newlyweds’ room has a Madhuri poster, one of Deewaar, and a ceiling plastered with a Bollywood collage.

Rafta, Rafta… is based on Bill Naughton’s All in Good Time, a ’50s play about blue-collar family dysfunction, so its themes are universal. Newlyweds Atul (Manish Dayal) and Vina (Reshma Shetty) have moved in with Atul’s parents, including his bullying father Eeshwar (Ranjit Chowdhry) and suffering, snappish mother Lopa (Sakina Jaffrey). Under the same roof as his father, in the room next door, Atul’s babymaker refuses to rear. (After the circumcision scene in East is East, Khan-Din seems obsessed with comic danda failure.) Eventually his private shame leaks, and the entire family makes it their business, leading to some very funny scenes with Vina’s parents Lata (Sarita Choudhury) and Laxman (Alok Tewari).

The first half of the play drags. The lines don’t snap, the dialogue seems circular but not comic, and Archie Panjabi and Jimi Mistry are dearly missed. Seeing your teenage sex symbols (Jaffrey in Masala, Choudhury in Mississippi Masala and in men’s clothes in that sexy magazine spread) transform themselves into aunties within a decade is depressing. But everything comes together in the second half. The dialogue doesn’t sing, but it chortles. The first half is all setup, the second mostly punchlines. It’s funny seeing Rocky the drag queen from Bollywood/Hollywood play an ultra-butch, working-class father.

The show is still in previews until next week, and the cast seemed disappointed at not receiving a standing O. This play is undoubtedly historic, their prep and memorization an enormous task. But by off-Broadway standards, the play is just average. Tighter dialogue and better actors for the newlywed roles would elevate this production; Dayal and Shetty are not very memorable in their roles. Oddly enough, the men, Tewari and Dayal, are the most physically striking actors on stage. Jaffrey and Choudhury riff comfortably off one another and steal most of their scenes. Chowdhry is wonderful as an aggressive father trying to remake his gentle son into a bully. Sean T. Krishnan is comically scuzzy, and Alison Wright is his hilarious, bubblegum-snapping, salwar-wearing English wife. Satya Bhabha plays the devar, Atul’s younger brother. Vintage Bollywood tees have cameos.

If you’re into desi culture or traditional dysfunctional family comedies, you’ll dig Rafta, Rafta…. One scene draws a parallel between Atul’s mother, Jaffrey, undressing at top left, and Atul taking off his clothes at top right. It’s icky but transgressive in a way that few desi plays are. The last time I saw so much comic sex on stage was Midnight’s Children in Harlem, poor Saleem Sinai forever doffing and donning his pantaloons.

Go see it. Don’t expect Tom Stoppard — relax, enjoy.

Here’s the British version’s trailer:

Rafta, Rafta… at the Acorn Theatre, 410 W. 42nd St. / 9th Ave., $39-$56.25, through June 7. Official site. Buy discounted and regular tickets.

Previously: Eastern exposure