Lal Qile Ka Aakhri Mushaira March 2, 2013

Pierrot’s Troupe (Delhi) Presents
Lal Qile Ka Aakhri Mushaira (Urdu – Duration: 1:30 hrs)
A Part of “ Nayaab”: Three Rare Plays with Tom Alter

March 2 (Sat), 7 pm, Rangaswar Y B CHAVAN Centre
Jagannath Bhosale Marg (Opp Mantralaya), Mumbai - 400021
Script & Direction: Dr M SAYEED ALAM

Sponsored by: Yusuf And Farida Hamied Foundation
Inspired by Muhammad Hussain’s Azad’s “Aab-e-Hayaat” and Farhat ullah Beg’s
“Dehli Ki Aakhri Shama”

Featuring: Tom Alter, M Sayeed Alam, Harish Chhabra, Vijay Gupta, Digambar Prasad ,Yashraaj Malik, Ayyub Khan, Manohar Pandey, Ram N Diwakar, Ahmad Omair, Mohd Daud, Manish Singh

Pierrot’s Troupe is never short and shy of either repeating its hit productions (literally on public demand) or producing new plays – original, entertaining and educative.

Thus on March 2, the troupe brings to Mumbai for the first time its latest play “Lal Qile Ka Aakhri Mushaira” . The play also introduces India’s one and only Tom Alter as Bahadur Shah Zafar.

The play is the re-creation of what was supposedly the last ‘poetic congregation’ during the reign of the Mughol Emperor and eminent poet, Bahadur Shah ‘Zafar’.

The importance of this historic event lies in the fact that it literally assembled on one stage the tallest of Urdu poets of all times. The play, therefore, beautifully re lives the ‘Golden Period’ of Urdu Poetry in presenting Ustaad Ibrahim Zauq, Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, Hakeem Momin Khan Momin, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Mufti Sadar-ud-din Azurdah, Agha Jaan Aish, Nawwab Mustafah Khan Sheftah, Balmukund Huzoor, Munshi Tishnah, Nawwab Daagh, Hafiz Ghulam Rasool Shauq, Hakeem Sakhanand Raqam and many more.

With this, one enjoys the poetry of the finest quality and class: For instance, Ghalib’s, “Ibn-e Maryam hua kare koi”, Zauq’s, “Laayi hayaat aaye, qaza le chali chale”, Momin’s, “Asar usko zara nahin hota” , Zafar’s, “ Ya mujhe afsar-e shahana banaya hota”.

No less does one travel back, in this costume and period drama, good enough to come face to face with the legends – their scholarship, their personal traits, their elegant recitation styles and mannerisms, their inter-person relationships, their exclusive get ups and, most important of all, their excellent sense of humor as reflected in repartees they frequently exchange with one another during the course of the Mushaerah.

In the broader sense, the play showcases the life and living in ‘Dehli’, before it underwent a sea change -- politically, socially and culturally -- in the wake of the First War for Independence.

The play features some of the prominent actors of the country; including Harish Chhabra as Ghalib, Vijay Gupta as Munshi Tishnah, M Sayeed Alam as Zauq; and the inimitable Tom Alter as King Bahadur Shah ‘Zafar’, who in the past has portrayed, with finesse and flair, ‘Bahadur Shah Zafar in exile’ in “Sons of Babur”, Maulana Azad in “Maulana Azad”, Ghalib in “Ghalib”.

The play has been written and directed by Dr M Sayeed Alam, reputed for his penchant for historical, historic and humorous plays.

Last but not the least, the play is the latest production of Pierrot’s Troupe - the theater company credited with giving many new, original and entertaining productions to Hindi and Urdu theatre: Ghalib In New Delhi, Maulana Azad, Cut…Cut…Cut, Big B, Ghalib, K L Saigal, Sons of Babur, 1947, Ghalib Ke Khat, Tale of the Taj, Tumko Chahoon, Raja Nahar Singh etc.

Tickets: Rs 250/-
Tele booking: 91 9892934236 (Mumbai), 91 9810255291 (Delhi) and/ or [email protected]

Online Booking: www.bookmyshow.com or call 39895050 (Toll Free) & [email protected]

Current Booking: Booking Window, Y B Chavan Centre, on the show day