GHALIB IN NEW DELHI (Comic Play) January 2, 2011

Pierrot’s Troupe Presents -- Ghalib In New Delhi -- (Hindi Comedy)
JANUARY 2( Sun.), 7 pm,
ALLIANCE FRANCAISE– 72 Lodhi Estate,
Script and Direction: Dr. M. SAYEED ALAM
Duration- 1:45 hrs.
Cast: Dr. M.sayeed Alam, Niti Sayeed, Hareesh Chhabra, Yashpal Malik, Ram N Diwakar, Himanshu Srivastava, Manohar Pandey, Ekant Kaul, Vijya Rathore, Punkaj Mutta

After visiting several parts of the country during last two months, Pierrot’s Troupe’s Ghalib In New Delhi – India’s largest running comic play -- hugely popular and critically acclaimed – is back to the town where it belongs to.

This rip-roaring comedy has the great erstwhile Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib revisiting his beloved ‘Dehli’, now ironically ‘Delhi’, in 2010 to witness and relish his posthumous fame

The entire plot revolves around Ghalib striving against an omnipotent identity crisis, beginning with the occupants of his ‘Haveli’ mistaking him as Ghalib’s ‘Jinn’. This forces him to stay with a ‘Bihari’ boy, Jai Hind, a Delhi University student, in a servant quarter. His confidence is further shattered when Jai Hind and his landlady Mrs. Chaddha recognize his worth only through the voice of Jagjit Singh, and the screen portrayal of Naseeruddin Shah. Persuaded by the duo and in desperate need of recognition, Ghalib decides to ‘sell’ himself. The consequent press conference turns out to be a damp squib with the journalists being more interested in post-conference snacks and juicy headlines. Ghalib then opts for an advertising agency to perpetuate his presence in the minds of the people. What is the fate of Ghalib? Does his rebirth spell further disaster? Is Delhi a mere travesty of his hopes and aspirations? The answer lies in watching Ghalib in New Delhi, a laugh riot posing some serious questions about the stagnating moral codes.

About the Playwrights:
Salman Khurshid (b 1953) read for B.A. (Hons) English at St Stephen’s College, Delhi University and Law at St Edmund Hall, Oxford . He then taught law at Trinity College, Oxford. A renowned legal thinker, a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India and one of the finest educationists, he is known for a deep interest in several fields of human endeavour. He was Deputy Minister of Commerce and Minister of State for External Affairs (1991-6). Presently,he is the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Corporate Affairs and the Minority Affairs in the Government of India.
Ather Farouqui: Ather Farouqui has a deep interest in the socio-political aspects of language politics, in which field he was awarded a PhD by Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1995. He has also authored two books Redefining Urdu Politics in India (2006) and Muslims and Media Images (2009), both published by Oxford University Press. He has also reworked Mr Salman Khurshid’s English play Sons of Babur into Hindi and Urdu, (Babur ki Aulad, Rupa & Company, 2008) with passion and as a labour of love.

Official Website: http://www.pierrotstheatre.com