The Qadir Ali Baig Foundation is organizing its annual Theatre Festival from the 27th October, which is on till 12th November. The festival is a tribute to the Hindustani theatre personality, the late Qadir Ali Baig. It forms a part of the Foundation's initiative to revive theatre in town, and was designed by Mohammad Ali Baig, the son of Qadir Ali Baig. The German Ministry of Culture, Goethe-Zentrum, Alliance Francaise and Seagram 100 Pipers are all associated with the festival.
The Urdu play Ismat Aapa Ke Naam II, by Motley from Mumbai, is the second play to be staged in the festival. It will be performed on 28th October, at HICC, at 8:30pm.
The play is Motley's second compilation, the first being Ismat Aapa Ke Naam, that has been staged in the city a number of times to packed houses. It encompasses 3 stories of Ismat Chughtai, namely Amar Behl, Nahni Ki Naani And Do Haath. The play will be staged in Urdu by the theatre group Motley Mumbai. It is directed by Naseeruddin Shah and the lead cast includes Manoj Pahwa, Lovleen Mishra and Seema Pahwa.
Ismat Chughtai was an Indian Urdu writer, and was considered one of the 4 pillars of modern Urdu short story, the other 3 being Saadat Hasan Manto, Krishan Chander, and Rajinder Singh Bedi. She was known for her outspokenness and her controversial style of writing. She won the 1974 Ghalib Award for Terhi Lakeer, and the 1975 Filmfare Best Story Award (along with Kaifi Azmi) for Garam Hawa.
Motley is a theatre group formed by Naseeruddin Shah, along with Tom Alter & Benjamin Gilani, in 1979. The group has produced several plays in both Hindi and English, and has regularly toured the country as well as foreign shores to take its work to varied audiences.
Entry tickets are priced at Rs. 1,000, Rs. 500 and Rs. 100. Please contact theatrefoundation[at]cineworksindia[dot]com for further details.