Lahore is back in Delhi
DIWAN SINGH BAJELI
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The popular "Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamyai Nai" was back on the Delhi stage this past week - and with an impressive performance by the cast.
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ALL OVER AGAIN A scene from the well-known play "Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamyai Nai"
Asghar Wajahat's play "Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamyai Nai" mounted by Mitr Cultural Society at Shri Ram Centre Auditorium this past week is another revival of his well-known drama on the Delhi stage. Despite some directorial flaws, it is not affecting staging of the play because of the powerful content in the script.
Wajahat has written six full-length plays in the course of his association with theatre spanning nearly four decades and his "Anna Ki Awaaz", an indictment of the Emergency, and "Jis Lahore Nai... ." have become immensely popular. Perhaps it is the only play written in Hindi in recent times that has caught the attention of stage directors not only in India but also abroad. It was Habib Tanvir who directed it for the Repertory Company of Shri Ram Centre for the first time in 1988. Staged frequently by SRC, it has more than 100 shows. Subsequently, Habib produced it for his Naya Theatre. In 1999, Khalid Ahmed of Karachi tried to stage it but the Police Commissioner did not allow him to stage it on the ground that the Hindu character of old woman is not realistic and the murder of the cleric in the play is against Islam. However, he managed to show it at the German Cultural Centre. Only recently a group presented it in a theatre festival in Lahore. The play has its versions in Punjabi, Marathi, Kannada and English. Umesh Agnihotri mounted it in Washington in 1994. At present it is being staged in Sydney and Dubai.
Deep humanism
What makes this play so popular is its deep humanism, transcending barriers of religion, culture and language. The characters are passing through hatred, intolerance, vendetta and communal carnage in the wake of Partition of the country. Set in Lahore, it focuses on a refugee Muslim family that has left Lucknow. The family is allotted a haveli once owned by a Hindu before Partition. To the shock, dismay and horror of the family members, they encounter an old Hindu woman hiding herself in the haveli. This is what causes a series of dramatic conflicts.
Structurally, the play does not follow the principle of the unity of place, action and time and the dramatic action goes on shifting to three locales - haveli, masjid and the wayside tea stall which often breaks the rhythm of the action. But what it is gripping is the clash between four world-views - the vision of universal brotherhood of poet Nasir Kazmi, the disturbed, alienated and uncertain outlook of the refugee family, the humane vision of the cleric and the violent vision of the anti-social elements masquerading as the true follower of Islam. These conflicting visions are directed towards an old and an utterly lonely woman surrounded by a hostile world which has committed every kind of atrocity. The conflict is finally resolved with the victory of humanity.
The play is directed by Anil Sharma, who has been actively involved in the advancement of the cause of amateur theatre in Delhi. In this production he is not able to display the finer nuances of the cultural environment the characters live in. The atmosphere is not charged emotionally to reveal the inner embittered world of characters. The chorus, which renders the poems written by Nasir Kazmi, is not effective enough to create the right mood to heighten the conflict. Habib used additional lyrics by Amrita Pritam.
Some of the members of the cast, especially Sumit Gupta in the role of Maanji, the embittered lonely Hindu woman, Siddhartha Gautam as cleric killed by fanatics for upholding human values, Sushant Sharma as Nasir Kazmi - this is a character drawn from real life - Sumita Sinha as the little girl of the refuge family, Deepak Chowdhari as the goonda and Parul Sachdeva as the mother give impressive performances.
Govind Nihalani is working on the script of this play to produce its film version. Despite the tremendous success of the play there are no takers of the latest play by Wajahat. Titled "Aki", it deals with the problem of nationalism of European people.
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