04/04/2017
Come celebrate tonight!
More than 25 years after her death, the relevance of Ismat Chughtai in creative circles hasn't dimmed, as evidenced by the slew of recent performances that are based on her writings.
For instance, Lihaaf by Tricycle Productions will be staged at Prithvi Theatre on Apr 4 & 5. It features a trio of talented collaborators: Rohit Mehra, Radhika Chopra and Kartavya Anthwaal Sharma (as the young Ismat).
This weekend, at S47 Panchsheel Park in Delhi, Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and Brechtian Mirror will showcase Noor Zaheer's Kahani ki Kahani, Ismat ki Zabani, a play based on her autobiography, Kaghazi Hai Pairahan, and stories.
On 16 April, the Stein Auditorium at India Habitat Centre will host a Dastangoi offering by Sunil Mehra and Askari Naqvi, which is a retelling of Gharwali, the provocative Chughtai tale once optioned for the big screen by Mani Ratnam. At least two other productions based on the same story have been staged in Delhi this year, Rajesh Tiwari's Laajo, and a version by Soleman Ali that played at Studio Safdar. The Dastangoi will be followed by a staging of Mughal Bachcha, another of Chughtai's enduring stories. Here is a piece by Shoma A. Chatterji in The Citizen: http://bit.ly/2oww7vs
Images: (clockwise from top left) A file photograph of Chughtai; Niti Phool in Mughal Bachcha; a scene from Ismat’s Love Stories by the Pandies theatre group; Sharma in Lihaaf; Mehra and Naqvi performing dastangoi; a scene from Kahani ki Kahani, Ismat ki Zabani; publicity representation of Motley's Ismat Apa Ke Naam featuring Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak and Heeba Shah.
