Form of words:
IIn the 85-year-old courtyard of a Hyderabad fruit market built as a tribute to a poet Rajkumar, the Qadir Ali Baig Theater Festival once again proved this week that Indian theater can thrive even in tough times and a Netflix-ravaged pandemic.
What is Kadir Ali Beg Theater Festival to Hyderabad what is India’s International Film Festival (IFFI) for Goa, what Cannes is to France – and this Thursday, it opened for its sixteenth year with all necessary Covid-safety protocols in place. Last year it was India’s only theater festival to be held during the pandemic, though it was cut short.
The presentations of the festival are usually staged in prestigious places like Golconda Fort, Chowmahalla Palace and Falaknuma Palace. This year is no exception: opening night took place at the recently restored Moazzam Jahi Market, which is known for its grand entrance, towering stone building and high belfry. Built by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, the fruit market is named after his son Moazzam Jah, who held court for poets from all over India to recite poetry and sing ghazals and hymns throughout the night.
With the support of the Telangana government, the opening ceremony of the festival began with a poem by Prince Moazzam Jah, read by Mohammad Ali Baig – who heads the Qadir Ali Beg Theater Foundation – and his nazms sung by Mala Baria.
Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao released the festival brochure, which was followed by an opening play. Rao has called the flagship theater program “the feather in the cap of Telangana”.
The festival began with the first act of a play titled ‘Guards at the Taj’ directed by Shishir Singh Chauhan, a play about strength, resistance, an appreciation of beauty and the ghosts of authoritarianism.
“This play is a great metaphor when you become too chained by the system. It blinds you against humanity,” said actor, poet and theater director Danish Hussain. His version of the play was staged at theater festivals like Primitive. has been done in
The events will take place at two locations – the market and Radisson Blu Hotel – over five days instead of the usual ten. It will showcase Hindi, English and Telugu plays as well as classes and workshops on physical theatre, playwriting and heritage theatre, led by artists such as Ila Arun, Heeba Shah and Etienne Coutinho.
Changing cultural space
Prithviraj Kapoor once said in Rajya Sabha in 1952, “Theatre is a wonderful thing. It is the biggest temple on the earth. Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Sikhs and Parsis all meet together in that temple. No one comes.” Asks who is in the next chair…all sit together.”
Her grandson, actor Kunal Kapoor, who is also a trustee of the famed Prithvi Theater in Mumbai, wrote to ThePrint over email that unfortunately, India does not yet have the right kind of support and patronage for the arts. “Personally, I believe that a city like Mumbai can easily accommodate the other fifteen Prithvi theaters – as long as they are managed with similar values,” he wrote.
After performing everywhere from Lahore to London, Baig said that the space for cultural events is not decreasing, the audience is just looking for facilities.
But don’t perform the last rites just yet, the theater is not dead.
There may be controversy over the cultural location, but it certainly hasn’t been ruled out. Even as big cinema struggles to make a post-Covid vaccine comeback, theater just seems like an indulgence and a long shot. But the age of theater is premature to die out, many say. NS”poor theater people“The tag is unfortunate and should have been countered long back,” Baig said.
Danish Hussain said, “Someone tell me when the theater is over so that I can attend his funeral.”
Between the two lockdowns, Prithvi Theater experienced an average attendance of 80 per cent audience in 2019, wrote Kunal Kapoor, who is also actor Shashi Kapoor’s son.
“Please come and take a look at the fascinating collection of spectators queuing up ahead of the show,” Kapoor said.
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One of Baig’s most popular plays is ‘Coolie: Dillon Ka Shahzada’, his own version of the love story of poet-king Quli Qutb Shah and his beloved Bhagmati. It was a successful performance at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, and was also performed in front of an audience at the historic Golconda Fort in Hyderabad.
Baig also pointed out that Hyderabad is known for its cosmopolitanism, with Telugu, Mughlai and Iranian influences coming together to form a culture that is unique to the city. Quli Qutb Shah, who founded the city of Hyderabad and built the Charminar, was a poet who wrote in Persian, Urdu and Telugu.
“The festival is also to celebrate Hyderabad, and to see it again for more than four centuries. With all my belief of being a Hyderabadi,” Baig said. During the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Qadir Ali Baig Foundation reached out to everyone from actors to daily wage craftsmen and provided monetary support to over 300 families. When the lockdown was relaxed, they organized the festival following all the safety protocols and with the support of the Telangana government.
The Qadir Ali Baig Theater Festival sees many veterans return and new actors debut. Alik Padamsee was trembling backstage before his first performance in 20 years. Pankaj Kapoor thanked Baig by holding his hand before walking on stage after 18 years.
“For me, theater is a legacy, a huge responsibility – it is not my profession or passion. What started as a son’s tribute to his father 16 years ago is today a city festival,” said Baig .
The author tweets @vandana_menon. Thoughts are personal.
(edited by Prashant)
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