dastangoi

Dastan-e-Chouboli for the 1st Time in Gurgaon

2012-01-24T01:58:00.003+05:30

On huge popular demand

The first formal Dastangoi show in Gurgaon

A repeat performance of

Dastan-e Chauboli

Adapted & Dir. Mahmood Farooqui.

Performed by - Danish Husain & Mahmood Farooqui.

Based on the version created by Vijaydan Detha.

Princess Chauboli has vowed that she will only marry a man who can make her speak four times in one night. Seventeen times twenty-four princes have tried and failed and are now rotting in the dungeon grinding fodder for horses. A brave and valiant Thakur, one who shoots 108 arrows through his wife's nose-ring every day, wishes to try his luck. What happens to him? How will Chouboli be won? Containing a story within a story within a story, some of them pan India favorites, Chouboli is a funny, bitter, sarcastic and lyrical take on Indian life. The repeat performance is happening after rave reviews and repeated requests from fans for the same. Tickets available at the Programme desk. An Old World Culture and Lata Bhasin presentation.

Tickets for INR 350.00 and INR 500.00

For online booking: http://in.bookmyshow.com/plays/Chouboli/ET00007630
For Program Desk please call: 0124 - 2715000 / 5100

2012-01-20T13:13:00.001+05:30

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to a big milestone in the decade long modern journey of Dastangoi

The launch of DASTANGOI - The Book

in Urdu and Hindi,

by S. R. Faruqi and Shahid Amin

on 6th February, 2012

at Stein Auditorium, IHC at 7 pm,

compiled by Mahmood Farooqui and Mohammed Kazim,

In the chair, Binoo and P. C. Sen,

To be followed by a Dastangoi performance by two debutantes

And then farmaishes

Dastan-e-Sedition: An Audio Link of the Performance at IIC, Delhi

2012-01-20T13:07:00.003+05:30

Panini Anand uploads an audio file of our performance at IIC, New Delhi on December 20, 2011 on his blog: Pratirodh

You'll find the link below the pic on the blog.

Thanks

Dastan-e-Ghare Baire

2012-01-11T12:49:00.005+05:30

Maulana Azad Museum & Happenings
present

Dastan - E - Ghare Baire

presented in the inimitable style of Dastangoi

by Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain

Adapted & Directed by Mahmood Farooqui

on Tuesday : 31st January 2012, 6:30pm
at Maulana Azad Museum
5 Ashraf Mistry Lane, Off Ballygunge Circular Rd, Kolkata -19.

Contact :
Ruchira - 9831256730
Anjum - 9831022227

There are no entry tickets for the show.

Dastan-e Sedition by Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Husain

2011-12-18T17:23:00.003+05:30

We present the Dastan-e Sedition,

For only the fourth time in Delhi,

at India International Centre, Lodhi Road,

on 20th December at 5.30 pm,

Written and Performed By,
Danish Husain and Mahmood Farooqui

Directed by

Mahmood Farooqui

Sangeet Natak Akademi's Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2010 for Dastangoi

2011-12-17T12:55:00.004+05:30

The Sangeet Natak Akademi, National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama, the apex body of performing arts in the country has conferred the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for the year 2010 to Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain for having outstanding talent and making a mark in their respective field of performing arts, Dastangoi.

For complete press release click here.

Dastangoi at INTACH, Monday 12th Dec, 3.30 pm

2011-12-10T16:54:00.001+05:30

As part of the campaign to make Delhi a world heritage city,

Dastangoi

at

INTACH, 71, Lodhi Estate,

on Monday, 12th December,

3.30 pm

Performers-

Manu Sikander Dhingra and Nadeem Shah Suhrawardy

Repeat of the Dastan-e Sedition in Delhi

2011-11-25T19:53:00.003+05:30

For those who have missed it so far...

a repeat of the Dastan-e Sedition

For

JNU Forum Against War on People

At

KC OAT (Kamla Complex Open Air Theater) JNU

On

Saturday, 26th November, 2011 at 5.30 pm

Performed this time by

Rana Senger and Rajesh Kumar from Bombay

Reviews of the Lahore shows

2011-11-25T19:52:00.002+05:30

by Aisha Sarwari in The Friday Times, Pakistan

http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta2/tft/article.php?issue=20111125&page=27

Intezar Husain Saheb in DAWN

http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/27/column-the-return-of-the-dastan.html

by Sarwat Ali in JANG

http://jang.com.pk/thenews/nov2011-weekly/nos-27-11-2011/enc.htm#2

And pictures from Aitchison College at

http://www.aitchison.edu.pk/detail.php?i=3233

Ek Shaam Dastangoi aur Zikr-e-Faiz Lahore Mein

2011-11-16T08:56:00.003+05:30

As part of the Faiz Centenary Celebrations we're performing Dastangoi and a vignette on Faiz's life and poetry at Ali Auditorium, Ferozpur Road, Lahore at 6pm on Saturday, November 19, 2011.

Entry strictly by invitation only. Invitations available at Faiz Ghar, 126-F, Model Town, Lahore. Tel (042 35835289).

Kindly collect your invitation/s from Faiz Ghar from Saturday 5th November onwards and drop your donations. All donations will go to Faiz Foundation Endowment Fund.

Click here for the facebook event page

Jashn-e-Awadh: Dastangoi

2011-11-07T16:52:00.003+05:30

Dainik Jagran Group invites you to a four day cultural festival celebrating Awadh and its culture 'Jashn-e-Awadh,' from November 10 to 13 at Dilkusha Gardens, Military Farm Road, Lucknow.

The event is free and open to all. So, please feel free to extend the invitation to anyone.

We'll be performing Dastans from Tilism-e-Hoshruba on Sunday November 13 at 7 pm. It is always special to return to Lucknow for a performance because these tales had their birth in this grand city only.

Directed by Mahmood Farooqui
Performance by Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain

The other events include a Ramlila by Shri Ram Bhartiya Kala Kendra on Nov 10, Qawwali by Sabri Brothers on Nov 11, and a performance by the band Euphoria on Nov 12 at the same venue.

An Old Fort, Two Rivers, & Few Tales from Tilism-e-Hoshruba

2011-10-13T15:17:00.004+05:30

Finally, a performance you can't resist - a perfect fusion. Dastangoi, a lost and old art form of storytelling, on the ramparts of Purana Qila (or Qila-e-Kuhna in Mughal rulers' parlance) at 7 pm tomorrow Friday, October 14, 2011 as part of the Yamuna-Elbe Project - a public art project about the two rivers Yamuna in Delhi and Elbe in Hamburg brought in by GIZ, Ministry of Urban Development and other agencies.

The venue for the performance is the spot where the new light and sound show takes place. Please enter Purana Qila from the Zoo entrance, climb the acclivity, go past the main gate till you reach a T-point, and then turn right to the other gate. Keep walking till you reach the other gate. That's the venue for the performance. Apologies for informing this late. GIZ is still in the process of securing permissions, licenses, permits, etc.

The event is free and open to all. Please feel free to be there with as many people as you wish to.

For more details please visit http://yamunakatha.blogspot.com/

Performers will include: Mahmood Farooqui, Ankit Chadha, Yojit Singh, & Danish Husain.

Directed by Mahmood Farooqui

Dastangoi at Mulakaat: An Indo-Pak Cultural Exchange Festival

2011-10-12T00:54:00.004+05:30

Tales from Tilism-e-Hoshruba at Mulakaat, an Indo-Pak cultural festival, tomorrow Wednesday, 12th October 2011 at 4pm at Shah Auditorium, Off Raj Niwas Marg, Civil Lines, Delhi 110 054. The auditorium is close to the Metro Civil Lines station.

Directed by Mahmood Farooqui

Performers Manu Sikander Dhingra and Nadeem Shah

Dastan-e-Sedition at the National Convention on Grievance Redress and Whistleblowers' Protection

2011-10-08T00:38:00.003+05:30

We're presenting Dastan-e-Sedition as part of the National Convention on Grievance Redress & Whistleblowers' Protection on Oct 11 at 2 pm at Bluebells International School, Kailash Colony, New Delhi.

Directed by Mahmood Farooqui

Written & Performed by Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain

The complete message for the convention is here:

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Greetings from the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI).

In the wake of current debates around corruption and grievances, it is important to once again highlight people’s struggles for ordinary rights and services like ration, hospitals, schools, water, sanitation, roads, MNREGA entitlements, pensions, Indira Awaas and a host of other government schemes for so-called development that never reaches people. As we know, lack of accountability and the day-to-day corruption faced by ordinary people is the biggest reason for the poorest and most marginalized sections of our society not securing their basic right to development. In addition, an issue that impacts people of this country is the lack of an effective mechanism to deal with the everyday grievances of citizens with respect to these rights and services. Effective grievance redress requires an accessible, decentralized, and responsive system equipped to deal with grievances in a time-bound and accountable manner.

At the same time, people struggling for these rights and the scores of activists who have tried to uncover the nexus of corruption between politicians, bureaucrats and other private interests at the local, regional and national levels have been at the receiving end of harassment, threats and violence. Over the years, many activists struggling for justice have been imprisoned, seriously threatened, injured or have even lost their lives. A comprehensive Whistleblower Protection mechanism then is essential for ensuring that the struggles for justice, accountability and transparency in public life are not compromised by vested interests again and again.

The National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI) has proposed a series of anti-corruption and grievance redress measures to effectively tackle corruption in the government, redress grievances of citizens and protect whistleblowers. A key element of these measures is a National Grievance Redress legislation which draws on successful existing grievance redress mechanisms in NREGA, RTE etc. and proposes an independent, decentralized grievance redress mechanism. In order to ensure protection of whistleblowers, the NCPRI has proposed several amendments to strengthen the 'Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill' that is currently before the Parliament and is proposing an effective Whistleblower Protection Bill instead.

The NCPRI and other organizations are organizing a two-day national convention on the 10th and 11th of October 2011 to discuss the proposed measures for grievance redress and whistleblower protection. You are requested to kindly nominate representatives from your organization/campaign to participate in the convention. We request all participants to bear their own costs for travel to Delhi, and make a contribution of Rs 100/- towards registration fees, which will go towards covering some of the costs of food and accommodation. Food and very basic accommodation will be organized for the two days. (Please inform us if you will be making your own arrangements for accommodation).

Please let us know by 1st October how many people from your organization/ campaign will be attending the Convention.

Further details about the venue will be sent to you shortly. We will also be forwarding you concept notes and draft Bills.

We look forward to discussing these measures with a wide range of groups and campaigns like yours who have been working on these issues across the country.

We look forward to your participation in the convention.

In solidarity,

Nikhil Dey , Venkatesh Nayak, Anjali Bhardwaj, Ramakrishna Raju and Angela Rangad

(for the NCPRI)
--
National Campaign for People's Right to Information
Email: ncpri.india@gmail.com
www.righttoinformation.info

Tales from Tilism-e-Hoshruba at 'Celebrating Humor' OWTF '11

2011-10-08T00:26:00.004+05:30

Dastangoi opens the Old World Theatre Festival 2011 'Celebrating Humour' on October 10, 2011 at 7 pm at the Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road.

The performances will include two tales from Tilism-e-Hoshruba performed by Manu Sikander Dhingra, Nadeem Shah, Ankit Chadha, and Yojit Singh.

Directed by Mahmood Farooqui

Mahmood will introduce the performance.

For ticket booking and other festival details, please visit their website: http://www.oldworldtheatrefestival.com/

Thanks

Magic of The Word: Dastan-e-Sedition

2011-10-08T00:18:00.005+05:30

Photograph Courtesy: Afzal Ahmed

Mumbai gets its first International Storytelling Festival with artists participating from Canada, Egypt, France, Japan, Spain, UK, US, and India. We're also performing as part of the festival on Sunday, 9th October 2011 at 11 am at Barfiwala Auditorium, Next to Versova Police Station, D.N. Nagar, Versova, Andheri West, Mumbai. The event is open to all. For more details on the festival, please visit their website: http://www.wordfullyyours.org

We'll have a Dastan-e-Sedition performance for the first time by Rajesh Kumar and Rana Pratap Senger. Till date Mahmood and I only have been performing the same. So, it will be exciting to see the take of these two artists on the Sedition tale.

Directed by Mahmood Farooqui. Written by Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain.

Thanks for your support.

Rendezvous at Ninasam

2011-10-07T23:35:00.003+05:30

Apologies for the absence. We were at Ninasam, sucked into the idyllic setting of this beautiful village. Thanks to K.V. Akshara for inviting us there. More about our sojourn there later. But if you're keen to know more you can check their website: http://www.ninasam.org/

Meanwhile, I'll post info about the upcoming shows this month. A bit late in the day but please bear with us.

Thanks

IMPORTANT - Change of venue for the Dastan-e-sedition, 18th Sept, Pune

2011-09-17T14:20:00.001+05:30

The show of Dastan-e- sedition, that is to take place tomorrow, the 18th of September, in Pune, will no longer take place in the Ghokhale institute. The institute has backed out due to the threat of violence, however we are determined to exercise our right to dissent, and will do so at this new address

At Shramik Bhavan, Near Pune Municipal Corp building.
Landmark Dengale Bridge, Shivaji nagar, Pune.
The time has changed from 5.30 to 6pm.

Dastangoi Bombay Workshop

2011-09-16T11:58:00.002+05:30

Dastak announces

An impromptu Dastangoi workshop cum baithak

In Bombay

On 24th and 25th of September (saturday and sunday)

From 3 pm to 8 pm

At

Barry John Acting School
301, Nanak Chambers,
Opposite Fun Republic,
New Link Road,
Andheri (West)
Mumbai-400053

All interested should please write a mail to Manu Sikander Dhingra at manusikander@yahoo.com> or call on +91-9810057705

For local directions please call Rana at 09821135410 or Rajesh at 09920775498

www.dastangoi.blogspot.com

A Seditious Tale Visits Pune

2011-09-09T00:55:00.002+05:30

Photograph Courtesy: Faizullah

We're invited for a repeat performance of our Dastan-e-Sedition, a special tale around the trial of Dr. Binayak Sen, at the 'Celebrating Right to Dissent' Festival at Pune. The event is open to all. Performances will be held at Azam Campus and at Gokhale Institute. The schedule is given below for those willing to attend.

For direction to Gokhale Institute, please click at the link given below:

http://www.gipe.ac.in/contactus.html

Celebrating Right to Dissent

A cultural festival in defence of our right to protest

Day One, Sept 16, Friday: Venue – Azam Campus, an educational institution which hosts more than 10 colleges and schools, where 25000 students study.

1. Exhibition of Contemporary Art by young artists

2. Film festival

Both of you fly to Pune, on this night.

Day Two, Sept 17, Saturday: Venue: Azam Campus

The exhibition continues till noon.

Main program – from 10.30 am to 1 noon.

a. Felicitation of Binayak and Ilina by the Azam Campus

b. Talk by P. A. Inamdar, Chairperson of the campus

c. Introduction of Binayak and Ilina by Neeraj

d. Talk by Binayak, from 11 am to 12 noon (1 hour)

e. Play – 12 noon Dastaan E Sedition, by Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain, Dastangoi. - 1 hour

(Note: The exhibition is by the same people who did the program in Mumbai when you and Binayak had gone there. The exhibition will not include the costlier exhibits as they will need insurance, and we thought no point in spending that much.)

1 noon to 2 noon – Press Conference to be addressed by BINAYAK and ILINA, at the Azam Campus, over lunch for the press and all of us.

(With this, the main program for the day ends. The Hall of the campus, where this program is being organised, has a capacity of 400. But we wanted more students to hear Binayak, so we have organised another talk in the afternoon for Binayak where the MBA and MCA students will attend)

3 or 3.30 pm – Talk by Binayak for MBA and MCA students of Azam Campus, for 1 hour, followed by questions and answers.

Day Three: Sept 18, 2011, Sunday

Morning session: Venue – Lokayat Hall, near Deccan (Binayak has come there earlier, after his first release) Time: 10 am to 5 pm

1. Exhibition of Contemporary Art by young artists

2. Film festival

(This will continue through the day. The Lokayat hall has three floors, with small and bigger halls. The idea is that we will have the exhibition in all three or two halls – I don't know how big will it be. In one of the halls we have the film festival going on too, comprising documentaries related to the theme.

3. Interaction for Lokayat activists with Binayak Sen, in the morning, from say 11 am to 1 noon. This interaction will be in one of the rooms of the Lokayat Building.

Evening Session: This is the main program of the day.

Venue: Kale Hall, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics.

Time: 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm (can go up to 9 pm)

1. Introduction + introduction of speakers (Binayak and Ilina) – 10 mins

2. Short talk by Neeraj on reasons for organising the program – 10 mins

3. Talk by Ilina – duration 20 minutes

4. Talk by Binayak – duration 50 minutes

5. Questions and answers – to be taken by Binayak and Ilina (20 mins)

6. PLAY – 7.20 pm Dastaan E Sedition by Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain – 1 hour - this can be followed by an interaction with the audience.

With this the Formal festival ends.

in solidarity,
--
Neeraj Jain, Lokayat
"Mrudanga", Bldg No. 3A, Flat No. 6,
Naad Brahma Society, Warje,
Pune - 411 058
Ph. Mobile 094222 20311
Landline: 020-25231251

Faiz Ahmed Faiz: A Conversation between Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain

2011-08-30T00:40:00.004+05:30

Pakistan Institute for Labour Education & Research

presents

Faiz Ahmed Faiz: A Conversation between Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain

The performance schedule is:

Tuesday, September 06, 2011 at 11.30 am
Main Auditorium, Karachi University
University Road, Karachi, Pakistan

Wednesday, September 07, 2011 at 7 pm
Karachi Arts Council
M.R. Kiyani Road, Karachi, Pakistan

The performance draws from the writing and the poetry of the legendary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. The performance is open to all so, please feel free to invite every lover of Faiz's poetry. For more information you may please call PILER at +92 21 3635 0919.

Jashn-e-Zabaan & Dastangoi at JNU

2011-08-30T00:25:00.004+05:30

Tilism-e-Hoshruba Dastans as part of the Jashn-e-Zabaan Festival at SSS-I Auditorium, JNU Campus, New Delhi on Friday, Sep 02, 2011 at 6pm.

Directed by: Mahmood Farooqui

Performers: Mahmood Farooqui, Nadeem Shah, Manu Sikander Dhingra, & Danish Husain.

Karachi's Rendezvous with Dastangoi

2011-08-27T13:00:00.007+05:30

National Academy of Performing Arts, Pakistan

presents

Dastangoi: The Lost Art Form of Urdu Storytelling

Conceived & Directed by Mahmood Farooqui Performed by: Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain

Dastangoi returns to Karachi after a hiatus of four years. We'll be performing a tale from Mohammad Husain Jah's version of Tilism-e-Hoshruba, and a contemporary tale using the same storytelling format at the National Academy of Performing of Arts on Tuesday Sep 6, 2011 at 5 pm.

The show is for the students, faculty and alumni of NAPA but room can be made for those keen on the performance. Please RSVP Mr. Muhammad Akbar Islam or Ms. Uzma Sabeen on +92 21 3569 3701 - 04. Seating is limited so please be particular about advising NAPA of your attendance.

National Academy of Performing Arts
Old Hindu Gymkhana Building (Opp. Arts Council)
M.R. Kiyani Road, Karachi, Pakistan

A Rajasthani Folk Tale & A Lost Art Form of Storytelling: Dastan-e-Chouboli

2011-08-13T03:48:00.008+05:30

We're attempt a first - marrying a Rajasthani folk tale to a form of Urdu storytelling. And we hope this fusion will be as riveting as the tales from the Tilism-e-Hoshruba.

Mahmood Farooqui presents

In Association with the Old World Culture

A Dastangoi presentation of the great Rajasthani folk story CHOUBOLI

Based on the version created by Vijaydan Detha

Princess Chauboli has vowed that she will only marry a man that can make her speak four times in one night. Seventeen times twenty-four princes have tried and failed and are now rotting in the dungeon grinding fodder for horses. A brave and valiant Thakur, one who shoots 108 arrows through his wife's nose-ring, everyday, day after day, also wants to try his luck. What happens to him? How will Chouboli be won? Containing a story within a story within a story, some of them pan India favorites, Chouboli is a funny, bitter, sarcastic and lyrical take on Indian life.

Performed by- Danish Husain and Mahmood Farooqui

Adapted and Directed by-Mahmood Farooqui

On Sunday 4th September at the Stein Auditorium, Indian Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi at 7 pm.

The first ticketed Dastangoi show in Delhi. Ticket denominations INR 100, 200, & 300/- The tickets are available at BookmyShow

You may also contact the Program Desk at Habitat for more info: +91 11 4366 3080/90.

Dastangoi Baithak

2011-08-08T04:18:00.005+05:30

Photograph Courtesy: Dave Besseling

We have instituted a fortnightly Baithak for the art form's practitioners, or those with interest in the art form and a desire to be a practitioner at a future stage. The Baithak will be a forum to discuss ideas about the art form, stories, show work-in-progress to peers, share interesting related info, and just catch up with each other.

The Baithak is not a performance. We're not looking for an audience. So, please be there only if you wish to engage seriously with the art form.

The Dastangoi Baithak will be held every second and fourth Thursday of the month from 7pm to 9pm at Anusha and Mahmood's residence. As it is a private residence, we expect you to RSVP us before coming. Please send a mail to Mahmood at mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo dot com or me at dan dot ayyaar at gmail dot com. You may even send us an sms. Our numbers are given at the bottom of our blog's page.

If in any case we're not having a Baithak on any Thursday, we'll post it on the blog.

Thanks and looking forward to you all next Thursday.

Danish Husain

Dastangoi at National School of Drama

2011-07-26T01:58:00.003+05:30

As every year, we return to the National School of Drama, Bhawalpur House, Bhagwan Das Road, New Delhi for a Dastangoi performance for the first-year drama students as part of their orientation program. The performance will be at 6.30 pm on Wednesday, 27th July 2011 at the NSD Campus. Though the performance is for the NSD students but it is open to all. Please feel free to join us there.

Directed by Mahmood Farooqui
Performers: Manu Sikandar Dhingra & Nadeem Shah

A Dastaan Weekend in Delhi

2011-06-16T10:18:00.005+05:30

The Tadpole Repertory and The Tejeshwar Singh Memorial Trust

invite you to

An Evening of Dastangoi

Directed by Mahmood Farooqui

Performed by Manu Sikander Dhingra and Nadeem Shah

Saturday, 18^th June 2011 | 7 p.m. |

40 minutes | The language of performance is an eclectic mix of Persian, Urdu and Braj

The event has already reported full RSVP.

Thanks

The Tadpole Repertory

Right to Dissent: Dastan-e-Sedition Banaam Hakim Sen

2011-05-14T12:45:00.004+05:30

We return to Mumbai with our rights to dissent and our special tale for Dr. Binayak Sen as part of a conclave on "Right to Dissent." The performance will be on May 30, 2011 at 7.45 pm at M.C. Ghia Hall, Opposite Max Mueller Bhavan (Another landmark next to Copper Chimney Restuarant), Kala Ghoda, Mumbai.

The performance will be preceded by a panel discussion at 6 pm between Dr. Binayak Sen, Dr. Illina Sen, Justice P.B. Sawant, Advocate Mihir Desai with Jyoti Punwani. We'll provide you more information on the conclave as we get it.

Thanks and best regards

Faiz Ahmed Faiz: A Conversation between Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain

2011-05-14T00:59:00.002+05:30

We return with our conversation on Faiz Saheb again but this time in Kanpur. Please join us at Swaroop Auditorium, Civil Lines, Kanpur at 5.00 pm on May 21, 2011. The event is open for all and is organized by Ms. Subhashini Ali.

Thanks

Dastan-e-Sedition Banaam Hakim Sen

2011-05-06T03:25:00.005+05:30

Dr. Binayak Sen post his release will be speaking out to the public at large in the inaugural session at a two day seminar on "Attack by the State on the Life and Personal Liberty of its People in Democratic India," at Gandhi Peace Foundation, 223 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, Near ITO Crossing, New Delhi at 10 am on May 07, 2011.

Respecting Dr Binayak and Ilina Sen's desire we shall repeat our presentation "Dastan-e Sedition Banaam Hakim Sen" on the 7th of May at 6 pm

Dastangoi Debuts in Kashmir

2011-05-06T03:19:00.003+05:30

Dastangoi debuts in Kashmir. Thanks to the Bookaroo Team.

As part of their festival in Srinagar there will be two performances:

Saturday 7th May at 11.30 am at the School Atrium, and

Sunday 8th May at 10.30 am at the School Atrium.

The venue for the festival is the Delhi Public School at Athjawan, Srinagar. For more details please visit the Bookaroo official site: http://bookaroo.in

Rana Pratap Senger and Shiekh Usman will be the performers.

Thanks

Dastan-e-Sedition Banaam Hakim Sen

2011-03-29T12:16:00.003+05:30

Free Binayak Sen Campaign

Justice on Trial:

three days of cultural events

April 4 to 6, 2011

@ Alliance Francaise de Delhi

72, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi 110003

Justice on Trial is a collaborative programme put together by leading contemporary artists, photographers, film makers, musicians, performers, and activists to commemorate struggles for democracy, freedom and rights. An exhibition of photographs and art works, talks performances and screenings all are directed at drawing renewed attention to the trial of Dr. Binayak Sen, who has emerged in recent times as a symbol of courageous resistance, and a reminder of the many injustices that surround us. Our aim is to provoke a dialogue with the colours and sounds that emerge from the idea of what Dr. Sen represents.

April 4 (Monday)

4:00 pm Inauguration of Art Exhibition by Prof Ilina Sen (Gallery)

5:00 pm Music: Them Clones / Imphal Talkies (Auditorium)

6:00 pm Film: “AFSPA 1958” (52 mins, 2006, dir: Haobam Paban Kumar) (Auditorium)

7:00 pm Panel: Prof Ilina Sen, Vrinda Grover, Aruna Roy

8:00 pm Performance: Arjun Raina / "Like a Bird on a Wire" (35 mins)

April 5 (Tuesday)

10:00 am – Art Exhibition (Gallery)

5:00 pm Music: Manzil / Faith Gonsalves

6:00 pm Film: Prisoners of Conscience (45 mins, 1978, dir: Anand Patwardhan)

7:00 pm Panel: Anand Patwardhan, Sharmila Tagore, Ashok Vajpeyi

8:00 Performance: Inder Salim / “I am Dr. Binayak Sen” (20 mins )

April 6 (Wednesday)

10:00 am – Art Exhibition (Gallery)

5:00 pm Music: Ska Vengers (featuring Delhi Sultanate)

6:00 pm Panel: Prof Amit Bhaduri / Arundhati Roy / Kavita Srivastava / Prashant Bhushan

8:00 pm Performance: Dastan-goi / Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain (45 mins )

Our End-March Campus Caper

2011-03-17T11:12:00.008+05:30

We have now some clarity about our program for the next fortnight. Please do join us wherever possible.

March 22, 2011 at S.G.T.B. Khalsa College Auditorium at 12 pm, North Campus, University of Delhi. Manu Sikander Dhingra and Nadeem Shah will perform the traditional dastan followed by a conversation on Faiz Ahmed Faiz by Mahmood and I. (This event is cancelled. Apologies.)
March 23, 2011 at The Conference Centre, Behind Nirula's, Chatra Marg, North Campus, University of Delhi at 11 am. Mahmood and I will be in a conversation on Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
March 28, 2011 at Bhramhaputra Hostel, JNU Campus, JNU at 9 pm. A traditional dastan performance by Manu Sikander Dhingra and Nadeem Shah.
March 26, 2011 at LSR College, Near Kailash Colony at 11.30 am. Mahmood and I in a discussion on cinema and theatre and their convergence.
March 26, 2011 at Indian Women's Press Corps, 5 Windsor Place (The Meridian roundabout), New Delhi at 3.30 pm. A lecture-demonstration on Dastangoi by Mahmood and I.
March 28, 2011 at Kamla Nehru College, Sirifort Road at 11.30 am. Mahmood and I will be in a conversation on Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
March 30, 2011 at Zakir Hussain College, Asaf Ali Road at 10.30 am. Manu Sikander Dhingra and Nadeem Shah will perform the traditional dastan.

Dastangoi "In Freedom's Shade"

2011-03-02T14:20:00.001+05:30

Faiz Ahmed Faiz: A Conversation between Mahmood Farooqui & Danish Husain

2011-02-16T11:09:00.004+05:30

We all know that 2011 is Faiz Saheb's centenary year. As part of this celebration we'll be presenting a conversation about him drawing upon his memoirs, writings, interviews, poetry at FTK Centre for Information Technology Hall, Ansari Auditorium Campus, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi at 2 pm on Thursday, 17th Feb and again on Thursday, 24th Feb at 5.30 pm at Ramjas College, University of Delhi North Campus.

I will also read some Faiz poetry today Feb 16 at 2 pm at the Delhi School of Social Work, University of Delhi North Campus.

All the events are open to everyone. Please feel free to join us.

Thanks

Danish

Dastangoi at CCRT Dwarka

2011-02-02T21:43:00.004+05:30

For Dastangoi aficionados and for those who want to become one, for the first time, we perform in West Delhi, at the Virasat festival of the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training on 12th February at 8 pm, after the annual Kamladevi Chattopadhyay lecture.

And a repeat performance on the 19th Feb.

Performers: Usman Sheikh and Rana Pratap Senger.

Centre for Cultural Resources and Training
(under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India)
15 A, Sector 7, Dwarka, New Delhi 110 075
Phone: +91 11 4715 1000 | Fax: +911125088637
Email: dg.ccrt@nic.in | website: www.ccrtindia.gov.in

Upcoming Dastangoi Shows

2011-01-13T08:52:00.001+05:30

Hyderabad-- 15th January as part of the Rangsutra Festival, at NIFT Campus, Madhapur
Hyderabad. Rajesh and Rasika will join us from Bombay.

India Habitat Centre, Delhi- 19th January, 7 pm. Ankit and Yojit perform along side Dan and I as we inaugurate their new series, 'Bards and Minstrels of India,' more info at http://www.habitatworld.com/events-talks.php

Lucknow--30th January, as part of the Mahindra-Sanatkada festival, most probably at Kaiserbagh, more details from 9415-104361 / 9336-592678 / 9889-616174. Rajesh and Rasika will join us from Bombay.

Faiz Ahmed Faiz Centenary Year Celebrations

2010-12-31T11:09:00.002+05:30

Faiz Ahmed Faiz the iconic romantic-revolutionary Urdu poet (1911-1984) was arguably the most popular poet produced by the Indian subcontinent in the twentieth century. 2011 marks the hundredth anniversary of his birth.

On the 1st of January we present our own tribute to Faiz-his life, works and beliefs- as a conversation between Danish and Mahmood. The conversation will largely draw on his own writings and poems.

Approximately at around 5.30 as part of SAHMAT's (http://www.sahmat.org/) annual gathering on the 1st of January-at V.P. HOUSE LAWNS, Rafi Marg, New Delhi.

Rakht-e Dil Baandh lo Dil-figaron chalo
Phir Hamin Qatl Ho aayen Yaaron Chalo

Dastangoi Performance at Katha Festival--29th December, 4 pm

2010-12-24T12:19:00.001+05:30

4:00 pm, on 29th December 2010, in a small amphitheater at Katha's storyshop (A3 Sarvodaya Enclave, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi - 110017

For further details contact Katha at www.katha.org

DASTANGOI at RAMJAS COLLEGE, DU, 15th Dec, 4.30 pm

2010-12-13T09:17:00.003+05:30

Thanks to the initiative of the inimitable Mukul Mangalik and the Aman Trust of Jamal Kidwai Rana, Usman, Ankit and Yojit will present Dastans at Ramjas College, Delhi University North Campus, on 15th December at 4.30 pm

All are welcome

Nizamuddin Auliya ke Pehloo Mein Dastaan

2010-12-08T19:44:00.004+05:30

Agha Khan Development Network "Celebrates Apni Basti" by organizing back to back Dastangoi performances at the recently renewed monument "Chaunsath Khamba" at 6 pm on December 10 and 11, 2010. Performers will include Ustad-e-Mohtram, Prof. Shahid Amin. So, a spectacle not to be missed. :-)

Thanks and cheers.

Tilism in Bhopal

2010-12-06T11:28:00.003+05:30

Dastangoi in its modern form makes its debut in Bhopal at the Adi Vidrohi Theatre Festival 2010 edition organized by the Swaraj Sansthan at the Bharat Bhawan at 7 pm on Dec 07, 2010. The performers will include Sheikh Usman and Rana Pratap Senger, the local heroes. Please contact the Sansthan for entry details. Meanwhile, we will pack our bags after a well received festival here at NCPA in Mumbai and leave for Bhopal.

Thanks and cheers.

The Festival

2010-12-05T10:06:00.004+05:30

The Finale today at 6.30 pm at the Little Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai.

Poster designed by Bhaskar Hazarika.

The Festival

2010-12-04T11:47:00.005+05:30

Poster Designed by Bhaskar Hazarika. Art work: A Haneef Ramay rendition of the Hamza tales.

The Festival

2010-12-04T11:19:00.003+05:30

Poster Designed by Bhaskar Hazarika. Art work from Hamzanama.

The Festival

2010-12-03T11:10:00.004+05:30

Poster Designed by Jugal Mody. Performers Photographed by Kavi Bhansali.

Dastangoi at Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival 2010

2010-11-26T16:09:00.003+05:30

Dastangoi returns to Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival. The 2010 edition sees two young, exciting Dastangos Ankit Chaddha and Yojit Singh perform at IGNCA, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Marg, New Delhi at 1.15 pm on Saturday, 27th November. Please be there if you wish to tag along with Amir Hamza and Amar Aiyyaar to their madrasa (school) and be part of the adventure.

Thanks and best regards.

Dastangoi Festival in Bombay

2010-11-10T12:13:00.005+05:30

In the first week of December, on 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th December, at the NCPA, we present the first Dastangoi festival of the modern era.

Over the last one year we have trained several people in Bombay and Delhi in the fledgling art of Dastangoi. 'Trained,' is a slightly misleading term for an art form which is still discovering its aesthetics, techniques and contours so let us say we have guided and initiated several new people from Bombay and Delhi into reciting Dastans. They include businessman, young professionals, theatre actors, teachers and researchers. The heartening thing is that several of them are non-actors and some have no prior acting experience. Acting and Dastangoi, it seems from this preliminary foray, are different things although the skills required for both have some commonality. Many of them have performed over half a dozen shows, sometimes independently, in cities across India.

So we present, with some excitement and greater nervousness, the performances of the following. Each will present a different Dastan and thus over four days we shall present twelve to thirteen different stories, mainly from the Tilism-e Hoshruba, but also other works that we have developed in this ongoing exploration.

Sheikh Usman
Rana Pratap
Rasika Duggal
Rajesh Kumar
Manu Sikander
Aarti Jain
Yojit Singh
Ankit Chaddha
Shruti Parthasarthy
Kuljeet Singh
Sunil Singh Dahima
Rahul Shankalya
Nadeem Shah

And of course the by now tiresome duo of
Danish Husain and Mahmood Farooqui

Approaching its sixth year now, the two baby steps that the modern journey of Dastangoi has taken requires hundreds of tellers in cities across Hindustan for it to become a proper revival. The first and necessary step was to remove its identification with what 'Mahmood Farooqui' or what 'Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Husain' do and we have achieved something of that in the 20 odd shows performed by the newer entrants to the fold. The enthusiastic reception to their telling is heartwarming. As is the fact that increasingly now people assume that there are several people performing Dastans and that we, and people associated with us, are just one of them. Kudos.

It is much better to be a well known exponent of an art form rather than being the only exponent of an art form because, nasha barhta hai sharabein jo sharabon men milen

Collect your passes from NCPA and come to listen to the following wonderful stories, the likes of which have never been composed or recited, before or since...Zamana bare shauq se sun raha tha, hamin so gaye Dastan kahte

Azar and the magic picture
Mehtab and the talking birds
Amar, the false God Laqa and Afrasiyab
Musavvir the portrait artist and Bahar Jadu
Azlam, the dragon dwelling army and Barq Ayyaar
Amar and Amir Hamza in the madarsa and the travails of their Mulla
Barq, Shadeed and Qahar versus Bahar Jadu
Amar versus Heyrat and Aasman Shola Khar Jadu
The Partition Dastan

The 460000 pages of the Dastan-e Amir Hamza await other tellers and other listeners

I deeply thank the India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore, (www.indiaifa.org) for supporting the festival and the other activities that we have lately undertaken to promote Dastangoi.

Entry open to all, first come first served. NCPA, Nariman Point, Bombay.

Dastangoi Ahead

2010-11-10T11:55:00.004+05:30

Lucknow--

Nakhlau, nakhlau: Dastangoi's Headquarters, where all the great Ustads lived, where Nawal Kishor published the 46 volumes of the Dastan-e Amir Hamza

Performance at : Bhartendu Natya Akademi, Gomtinagar:-12th November, at 6.30 pm Entry Open to All

Followed by a performance for invitees on 13th November at a private residence

Delhi

10th and 11th December at Chaunsath Khambha, Basti Nizamuddin, organised by the Aga Khan Trust www.akdn.org/Content/137 - Entry Open to All

Bombay

2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th December. Dastangoi Festival at National Centre for the Performing Arts, NCPA
Passes Will be Available from NCPA

Bhopal

Our first ever performance in Bhopal

7th December at Bharat Bhawan at 7 pm, organised by the Swaraj Sansthan, Bhopal.

2010-11-07T17:17:00.002+05:30

Maulana Azad National Urdu University invites us to perform Dastangoi at a 4 day long academic and cultural seminar at their end. The performance will be on Monday, 8th November 2010 at 6.30 pm at:

DDE Auditorium,

Directorate of Distance Education,

Maulana Azad National Urdu University,

Gachibowli,

Hyderabad-500 032

The performance includes the retelling of the Partition Dastan. And the performers include Sheikh Usman and Rana Pratap Senger. The entry is open to all.

Thanks and best regards.

Dastangoi at Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival 2010

2010-10-26T14:25:00.002+05:30

Dastangoi will feature as part of the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival 2010 in Bangalore. The focus this year is on folk and calssical theatre. We'll be reciting a brand new tale of Mussavir Jadoo, a mighty sorcerer, grandson of Lord Samari, a painter, whom Afrasiyab summons to decimate renegade sorcerers and Aiyyaars. Sheikh Usman and Rana P Senger will also perform a tale.

Our performance is slated at 7.30pm at the Ranga Shankara Theatre on Wednesday, October 27, 2010. For more details please visit the Ranga Shankara site.

Thanks and warm regards,

Danish

Visuals from Alliance Francaise Performance

2010-10-26T13:58:00.006+05:30

Ankit and Yojit on their debut regaling the unruly Delhi kids with Amir Hamza and Amar's childhood adventures.

We with our usual business of slaying Azlam Jadoo.

Muriel with her stories from all over the world, and even from outside of this world.

A photo journalist, I guess Rakesh Nair, has documented the Saturday Alliance Francaise performances on his blog Third Eye. A teaser here while you catch the action there.

Thanks and warm regards,

Danish

Dastangoi along with legendary French storyteller Muriel Bloch

2010-10-22T10:50:00.003+05:30

On Saturday, 23rd October, 2010, two new Dastangos, Yojit Singh and Ankit Chaddha make their debut.

At a special performance where we will be sharing the stage with the legendary French storyteller Muriel Bloch.

At eleven am Yojit and Ankit will perform a tale from the childhood of Amir Hamza and Amar Aiyyyar.

In the afternoon 2-4 pm Danish and I follow Ms Bloch

11 to 5 at the Alliance Francaise auditorium.

Come for Ms Bloch and join us to celebrate the launch of the new Dastangos

Entry open to all in the afternoon

Recent Reviews

2010-10-08T09:45:00.001+05:30

Links to some reviews of the Calcutta, Hyderabad and Bangalore shows--

http://www.haata.com/telling-stories/

http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=343658&catid=72

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/article740111.ece

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100918/jsp/entertainment/story_12950113.jsp

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloids/night-wah-wahs-567

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/printarticle.aspx?page=comments&action=translate§id=31&contentid=2010091520100915200240776664d2589&subsite=

Dastangoi in Gurgaon, for Power Grid Corporation of India

2010-09-27T10:12:00.004+05:30

On Tuesday the 28th September, at 7 pm.

एमपीहॉल,
पावरग्रिड टाउनशीप,
सेक्‍टर 43,
नजदीक एपी सेंटर,
गुड़गांव हरियाणा 122001

The show is mainly for the Power Grid people but those desirous of coming should write me a mail.

Some very interesting reviews of Peepli Live-one by a woman who had seen Dastangoi in NY

2010-09-21T23:26:00.004+05:30

http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/film/peepli-live/2010/08/11/1281206315049.html?page=2

http://www.fullhyderabad.com/profile/movies/3734/2/peepli-live-movie-review

http://news.avstv.com/2010/07/23/peepli-live-satire-with-a-soul/

DASTANGOI TRAVELS IN SEPTEMBER

2010-09-03T10:56:00.007+05:30

This month we travel to four cities with Dastangoi.
- 7th of September we perform at a school at Benaras, the details of which I shall post later.

BANARAS (jo maza banaras men, na paris men na faras men)

7th Sep, 6 pm. Auditorium, Rajghat Besant School, Rajghat Fort, Banaras.
Performers include Rasika Duggal and Rajesh Kumar.

- 12th we travel to Calcutta
- 19th Hyderabad [Prakriti Foundation, Chennai and Park Hotel]
- 25th at Bangalore as a fundraiser for the organisation, the India Foundation for the Arts, which has been funding some of Dastangoi's activities.

Calcutta
12th Sep, at 7 pm at Galaxy, The Park, 17 Park Street, Kolkatta.
For invites pl contact Mira at prakritifoundation@gmail.com

Hyderabad

19th Sep, at 7 pm at Trillion Ballroom, The Park, 22 Rajbhawan Road, Somajguda, Hyderabad
For invites pl contact Mira at prakritifoundation@gmail.com
Performers include Rana Senger and Sheikh Usman

Bangalore
Chowdiah Memorial Hall – 7.30 pm, Saturday, September 25, 2010
For entry for the performance through donations of Rs.1000/- and Rs.500/- call Joyce at 2341 4681/82/83 between 10 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday or email joyce@indiaifa.org

MAFA at Doon

2010-08-27T20:46:00.003+05:30

Mahmood Farooqui returns to his alma matter, Doon School, Dehradun for a performance of Dastangoi on Saturday, August 28, 2010. We're in for some experience.

Cheers

Bollywood and the middle class nation

2010-08-15T10:06:00.002+05:30

Mahmood wrote this piece fours years ago for Himal.

http://www.himalmag.com/read.php?id=2358

DASTANGOI AT NATIONAL SCHOOL OF DRAMA, NEW DELHI

2010-08-03T22:04:00.002+05:30

Performance of

Mehtab Jadu, the magical talking birds and Amar Aiyyyar

From, the Tilism-e Hoshruba,

by Danish Husain and Manu Sikander Dhingra

Thursday, the 5th August at 2.30 pm at NSD, Bahawalpur House, Bhagwan Das Road, N. Delhi.

Presented by Mahmood Farooqui

The Mentor and Founder of Dastangoi, S. R. Faruqi may attend.

All are welcome.

Besieged Voices from Delhi 1857

2010-08-03T09:41:00.002+05:30

Translated by Mahmood Farooqui, with notes on the Mutiny Papers and governance in Delhi 1857 by the translator

When Delhi lay under siege for five harrowing months in the summer of 1857, the people of the city described the events as ghadar: a time of turbulence. Resources within the besieged city fell dangerously low and locals found the rebelling sepoys’ presence and the increased levies insufferable. Nonetheless, an extraordinary effort was launched by the government of Bahadur Shah Zafar to fight the British. Thousands of labourers and tonnes of materials were mobilized, funds were gathered, the police monitored food prices and a functioning bureaucracy was vigilantly maintained—right until the walled city’s fall. Then, as Delhiwas transformed by the victorious British, these everyday sacrifices and the efforts of thousands of people to save their country were lost forever.

In this groundbreaking work, Mahmood Farooqui presents the first extensive translations into English of the Mutiny Papers—documents dating from Delhi’s 1857 siege, originally written in Persian and Shikastah Urdu. The translations include such fascinating pieces as the constitution of the Court of Mutineers, letters from soldiers threatening to leave Delhi if they were not paid their salaries, complaints to the police about unruly soldiers, and reports of troublesome courtesans, spies, faqirs, doctors, volunteers and harassed policemen. Shifting focus away from the conventional understanding of the events of 1857, these translations return ordinary and anonymous men and women back into the history of 1857.

Besieged offers a view of how the rebel government of Delhi organized the essential requirements of war—food and labour, soldiers’ salaries, arms and ammunition—but more than that, this deeply evocative book reveals the hopes, beliefs and failures of a people who lived through the tragic end of an era.

Photograph and the write-up courtesy Penguin Books India.

Zindagi se darte ho

2010-07-21T12:07:00.004+05:30

Those of you who want a translation of the Poem 'Zindagi se darte ho' by Noon Meem Rashed, I am posting a translation along with the poem. This isn't the complete Nazm but only the portions that we have used in the film Peepli Live. Go to Rashed's work and have a life changing experience.

Zindagi se Darte ho

Zindagi se darte ho (4)
Zindagi to tum bhi ho (2)
Zindagi to hum bhi hain
Aadmi se darte ho (2)
Aadmi to tum bhi ho (2)
Aadmi to hum bhi hain
Tum abhi se darte ho

Aadmi zabaan bhi hai
Aadmi bayaan bhi hai (2)

Harf aur maani ke rishta haaye aahan se
Aadmi hai waabasta
Aadmi ke daaman se zindagi hai waabasta
Us se tum nahi darte ho (2)

Ankahi se darte ho
Jo abhi nahi aayi
Us gharri ki aamad ki
Aagahi se darte ho
Tum abhi se darte ho

Pehle bhi to guzre hain (2)
Daur na rassai ke
Be-riya khudaai ke
Phir bhi yeh samajhte ho (2)
Hech aarzumandi
Yeh shab e zubaan bandi
Hai rah e khudaawandi
Tum yehi samajhte ho

Tum mager yeh kya jaano
Lab agar nahi hilte
Haath jaag uthte hain
Haath bol uthte hain
Subh ki azaan ban kar

Roshni se darte ho
Roshni to tum bhi ho
Roshni to hum bhi hain
Tum abhi se darte ho

Raah- e- shauq mein jaise
rahru ka khoon lapke
Ek nayaa junoon lapke
Aadmi chhalak uthe
Aadmi hanse dekho
shaher phir base dekho
Tum abhi se darte ho (4)

ZINDAGI SE DARTE HO-THE SECOND COMING

Afraid of Life, are you
You too are life
We too are life
Afraid of Man, are you
You too are human
We too are human
Afraid already are you

Man is speech
Man is expression too

To the iron bond
Uniting utterance and meaning
Man is joined
Tied to his sleeves is Life
Not afraid of that

Afraid of the unsaid
Afraid of the moment
That has not yet arrived
Afraid of the awareness
Of the coming of that moment
Afraid already

We have seen the times
Before
Of inaccessibility
Of guileless divinity
And yet you believe
To desire is worthless
This night of silenced tongues
Is the path
To divinity

How will you know though
That if lips don’t move
Hands begin to stir
Hands begin to call
Like the Azan at dawn

Afraid of Light
You too are light
We too are light
Afraid of light

As in the journey of love
The traveler’s blood soars
A new passion leaps
Man boils over
Man laughs, look
The city is reborn
Afraid already
-Translated by Mahmood Farooqui with inputs from SR Faruqi

-

Budding Dastango Ankit Chaddha's Thoughts on Dastangoi

2010-07-05T11:03:00.000+05:30

Dastangoi: There is no end to believing
It is quite strange how such an evident characteristic of storytelling never struck me before. But then, I did not have an experience with dastangoi. During a workshop conducted by Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Hussain, one of the fundamental truths was realized – what you believe is what you see.

What is Dastangoi?
The word ‘Dastangoi’ is the amalgamation of Persian words for epic (Dastan) and telling (goi). These dastans, coming from an oral tradition, were medieval romantic tales full of magic, adventure and warfare that were recited aloud for audience.
Dastangoi: Don’t Stop Believing
“Yahaan wahi hai jo aitbaar kiya,” says Mahmood. If a dastango (the storyteller) can make the audience believe in everything that he creates, then all of it is happening. When his performance makes things/events look plausible, the storyteller is no longer questioned on the basis of facts.

Dastangoi: Because there is no end
Recently, I was telling one of the episodes from Dastan-e-Amir Hamza to a six year old girl. She was listening to each and every word very carefully. As the episode ended, I told her how that part of the story was over. She asked, “So, does the story end?” “No,” I replied, “stories never end.” She smiled and said, “Yes, that’s the way it should be. Stories are not supposed to have an ending. Continue.” And then, I moved on to the next episode. Here is hoping that the story of dastangoi continues.

DELHI DASTANGOS--Rehearsal Sunday 27th at 5 pm

2010-06-26T10:33:00.000+05:30

Sunday the 27th at 5 pm.

Delhi Workshop--Follow up

2010-06-18T12:47:00.001+05:30

Follow up to the Delhi Workshop--- Only for those who attended it earlier.

Sunday, 20th June, 4 pm.

A-1, Second Floow, Gulmohar Avenue, Tikona Park,
Jamianagar, N. Delhi-25

The Preview of the Wokshop in MINT, Delhi

2010-06-03T22:39:00.000+05:30

“You perform and learn” : Mahmood Farooqui on dastangoi
Posted by Himanshu Bhagat on Thursday, June 3, 2010

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend
Farooqui (left) with Danish Husain

Farooqui (left) with Danish Husain

Credit Mahmood Farooqui for making something as exotic sounding as “dastangoi” a familiar word for many. Over the past five years, Farooqui and his fellow dastangoh Danish Hussain have held many dastangoi performances in India and overseas, spinning fantastic yarns in chaste Urdu, and trying to revive the lost art of Urdu storytelling. The response has been enthusiastic and now Farooqui is training others in this fascinating art to carry the tradition forward. He held a dastangoi workshop in Mumbai and will be conducting one in Delhi from today. We had a quick chat with Farooqui ahead of the workshop.

Can the art of Dastangoi be taught?

We are not teaching the art. The workshop will be a way of interacting with people and telling them about what we do. There is no rocket science behind it. It might look daunting and the language is a problem, but then any literary language would be a problem. That just needs to be surmounted.

We did a workshop in Mumbai and 5-6 people who attended have done about 10 shows so far. This workshop too will culminate in performance by two new people. The point is if people want to do it, they can. I rehearsed with people in Mumbai for 2-3 months. It’s basically about working with stories and working with a partner. It is different from other forms of storytelling—one reason being because it evolved over two-three centuries of telling.

Who did you learn Dastangoi from?

I began by reading the tales to my uncle SR Farooqui, the noted Urdu critic and scholar, who corrected us and directed us how to read them. Then Himanshu Tyagi and I rehearsed and worked on it, basically learning on the job. You perform and learn. What kind of art form it is and where it can go is open—something that needs to be seen.

But how many people have working knowledge of Urdu today?

In India many are familiar with the language. Many Muslims for instance don’t know how to read and write Urdu but are familiar with the words and idioms. A lot of people are avid followers of Urdu poetry. So there are people with some working knowledge of Urdu and that is the point. Of all the people who have performed dastangoi, including Danish and Naseeruddin Shah, I am the only one who can read and write Urdu. So it is possible to do it, I guess.

How many people have signed up for the workshop?

About 25 people from various backgrounds—teachers, media people, theatre veterans, NSD graduates. Oddly enough, many haven’t seen a dastangoi performance before.

Do you see dastangoi surviving on its own, without any institutional support?

Survival means what—shows, performances? That’s the challenge of the art form. For performers to survive financially—that’s a different problem. Dastangos need to do other things to survive.

The workshop for aspiring Dastangos will be conducted at the Attic,36 Regal Building, New Delhi Tel: 23746050. It is supported by the India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore

Timings:

Friday, 4th June, 10am – 5pm
Saturday, 5th June, 10am – 4.30 pm

Sunday, 6th June, 12.30 – 5 pm

For details, write to mahmood.farooqui@gmail.com, and visit www.dastangoi.blogspot.com

A workshop for aspiring Dastangos

2010-05-22T10:29:00.001+05:30

Dastak Announces -

A workshop for aspiring Dastangos

At the Attic, Regal Building, Parliament Street

Connaught Place, New Delhi
On 4th, 5th and 6th of June.
From 10am to 5pm.

Mahmood Farooqui’s attempts at reviving this lost art of Urdu story telling have completed five years this month. He is now looking to invite more people to take the story forward.

Only those interested in pursuing the art of Dastangoi and those who
have a working knowledge of Urdu and of Theatre should attend. Please
write a mail to mahmood.farooqui@gmail.com and state your background
and reasons for attending the workshop in order to register. Please
also visit the blog www.dastangoi.blogspot.com to learn more about
this lost Art of Urdu Storytelling and its revival.

A Note on the Workshop:

The workshop is NOT going to conduct general theatre exercises of
voice, improvisation and movement. It is going to concentrate on the
history and nature of the form and how best to perform the traditional
stories in today's context. Participants are expected to devote
themselves to learning and performing the stories which are currently
in the repertoire of the Dastangoi performances. The workshop will be
conducted free of cost to the participants.

The workshop is supported by the INDIA FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS, BANGALORE.

TIMES NEWS NETWORK REVIEW OF FTII, Pune Show

2010-05-11T16:27:00.000+05:30

Reviving the lost art form of Dastangoi

Laxmi Birajdar | TNN

Pune: The stories of Amir Hamza,paternal uncle of Prophet Muhammad,came alive through Dastangoi,the lost art form of story-telling.On Monday,Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Husain,recounted the epic narratives of Hamza at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and gave an insight into this rich art that involves complex Urdu poetry and oral recitation,interwoven with the rich strains of classical music.
Created and directed by Farooqui,who has been guided by S R Faruqi,Urdus renowned critic and writer,the performance is an attempt to recreate Dastangoi as it was performed in the 16th century,during the rule of Akbar.
The word Dastangoi is a compound of two Persian words,dastan and goi,which means to tell a dastan or epic,often oral in nature.
The Dastan-e-Amir Hamza is a highly important chapter of our literary history.Our maiden performances were at the India International Centre in Delhi in 2005, said Farooqui,also a thespian.
It was while devising a lecture-demonstration for this art form in 2005 that I first explored the possibility of actually performing the text.The best way to demonstrate its prowess was to actually let the text speak.Traditional Dastangoi was restricted to a single performer.The innovation I made was to rope in another actor so that we would alternate our recitations and participate as listeners to each others stories, said Farooqui.
Stories of Hamzas life and exploits have been collected in the Hamzanama,which came to India through Persia.It began to be recounted in Urdu in the 18th and 19th centuries and a structure was acquired through its form,oral recitation,Urdu poetry and classical music.
The shows executive director,Anusha Rizvi,recognised the scope of this art form once the initial performance was lapped up by the audience.Thats when we thought of pursuing it seriously and began delving deeper into it.We realised people were taking a genuine interest in this lost art of story-telling and were reacting positively to our performance,wanting to know and see more of Dastangoi, said Rizvi.
Farooqui has been training artists for the last four years.There are only about 10 people who can perform Dastangoi today.Being a theatre artist myself,I find it a very fulfilling art form, said Farooqui.
Actor-poet Danish Husain has been assisting Farooqui.He will be seen next in the film,Peepli Live, produced by Aamir Khan and directed by Farooqui and Rizvi.

The dastan or epic narrative of Amir Hamza was brought alive through oral recitation,classical music and Urdu poetry by artistes,Danish Husain (left) and Mahmood Farooqui at a performance at the FTII recently

Indian Express Review of the FTII show in Pune

2010-04-22T10:30:00.001+05:30

Tales of storytellers

Meenakshi Iyer Tags : talk Posted: Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 0204 hrs

Dastangoi, a dying art form is being revived through performances for the mainstream audience by Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Husain

Sound of energetic Wah Wahs resonated in the main theatre of Film and Television Institute of India. The stage was set, perfectly suiting the era of the Dastangoi- the ancient art of storytelling. The 50 year golden jubilee celebration at FTII was the apt occasion to celebrate this ideal blend of poetry and drama.

Marked by dramatic, loud hand gestures and set on varied pitches, this performance by Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Husain was a visual delight as well. Farooqui has been involved in the revival of this art since 2004. Talking about his first encounter with this art form he says, “In August 2002, I first encountered the Dastan-e Amir Hamza and I was asked to help out somebody who was making a film. Though the film never got made, I got interested in Dastangoi.”

Dastangoi is the art of narration of Dastan (epic narrative) recited by a Dastango (performer)- a compound of two Persian words Dastan and goi which means to tell a Dastan. These were often oral in nature, stories of adventure, magic and warfare read out loud. This art form dates back to the 16th century; in fact legend has it that Emperor Akbar himself would recite them. It involves rigorous practice to perfect every aspect of the performance. Farooqui adds, “We work together on lengthy rehearsal sessions trying to memorise pages of script. We improvise, edit and present it in a form that is enjoyable for the audiences.”

The palpable chemistry between both the artists left the audiences completely engaged in the performance. They time traveled through the pages of history and the audiences attentive throughout the length of the act. “The audiences are kept attentive through techniques like sound of language, illustrations on the stage and so on,” adds Farooqui. Most of Indian and Islamic cinema is influenced by Parsi theatre that uses the same elements of the theatrical forms of nautanki, swang, naqqali.

This art form has an illustrous history and an equally interesting way of presentation. In one of the Dastans about the escapades of Amir Aiyyaar, Husain quickly changes into a role of a beautiful woman. His graceful movements match the masculine performance of Farooqui creating a visual imagery in front of the audiences. With minimal props, they bring to life some of the greatest epics of Persian and Arabic literature. Traditional Dastangoi was restricted to single performer, but Farooqui made improvisations and introduced the system of two performers, to make it more contemporary.

The second part was based on the partition of 1947, drawing attention to the battle through poetry, folk sayings and literature. It was an intricately woven tale of separation, longing and trauma of the partition, something that is so close to our hearts.

Farooqui has studied at the University of Oxford. He has worked over the last four years to revive this lost art of storytelling under the guidance of S R Faruqi, eminent critic and writer. Husain, has been involved with this endeavour for over four years. Farooqui says, “Our Dasatngoi performance is a tribute to these storytellers who lived 200 years ago and are hardly remembered by anyone today.”

Dastangoi at FTII, Pune

2010-04-09T12:23:00.000+05:30

To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the founding of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Dastak will perform Dastangoi on the 12th of April 2010 at the Main Theatre, FTII Campus from 7.30 onwards. A discussion with students will happen on the morning of the 13th.

A Video Log of Dastangoi Performances

2010-03-25T00:02:00.013+05:30

Dastangoi Performance at Kala Ghoda Literary Festival, Mumbai, February 2007

Dastangoi Performance at Dakshinpuri, New Delhi January 2008; A Cybermohalla Enterprise, Sarai

Dastangoi Performance at Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur, October 2008

Dastangoi Performance at Muslim Voices Festival, New York, June 2009

Then there are links to following videos by friends and news agencies:

Performance for Dastakar I, IGNCA, New Delhi, November 2009

Performance for Dastakar II, IGNCA, New Delhi, November 2009

Performance for Dastakar III, IGNCA, New Delhi, November 2009

And an AVS TV's report on Dastangoi.

And our latest interview: NewsClick's feature on Dastangoi

And here is the latest video report filed by Pooja Chaturvedi, Mint (Hindustan Times Group)on Dastangoi. The performance and interviews are from The Bards and The Minstrels of India Series performance on Jan 19, 2011 at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. You may visit their site here:
The Bards and The Minstrels Series Opening at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

And we add more videos as they become available to us on youtube:

An ANI video of our performance at Chausanth Khamba, Nizamuddin Dec, 2010

A beautiful video made from our performances at NCPA, Mumbai, Dec 2010 for the first Dastangoi festival ever in modern times by Afzal Ahmed Syed.

Anu Anand Hall, a BBC Correspondent, describing her serendipitous brush with Dastangoi.

And the latest, thanks to Nicky Chandam, a video documentation of the Binayak Sen Dastan we did as part of Justice on Trial, 3 day long cultural festival at Alliance Francaise, Delhi on Apr 06, 2011.

We'll add more as we roll along. Thanks.

Dastangoi for Jan Sanskriti Manch in Patna Cancelled

2010-03-13T12:55:00.004+05:30

Dear Everyone:

For reasons beyond our and our host's control, we had to cancel our show in Patna today. It's a pity. We were really looking forward to this show. Anyway, we hope we'll be there soon.

Thanks for bearing with us.

Danish

Dastak is pleased to return to Patna for a performance of Dastangoi.

As part of Jan Sanskriti Manch's cultural event we'll be performing Dastangoi tomorrow Sunday, March 14 at 7:00 pm at Kalidasa Rangalya (South end of Gandhi Maidan), Patna.

Please feel free to join us there or tell your friends in Patna to come over for the performance.

Thanks

Dastangoi--Allahabad, 6th March, 2010

2010-03-03T14:33:00.001+05:30

The Planning and Development Unit
(Department Of Economics, Allahabad University)
and the G.B Pant Social Science Institute cordially invite you to:

“NREGA: Which Way Now?”

(Panel discussion and public debate)
Main Speakers:
Abhijit Sen (Member, Planning Commission)
Mihir Shah (Member, Central Employment Guarantee Council)
B.K Sinha (Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development)
Aruna Roy (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan)
Gangaram Paikra(Chaupal, Chattisgarh)

Followed by Cultural Programme: Dastangoi (Urdu story-telling,
directed by Mahmood Farooqui).

Date: 6 March 2010
Time: 5 pm to 8.30 pm

Venue: G.B Pant Social Science Institute, Jhunsi
Enquiries: 0532-2567 150 or 2569 204.

Tilism-e-Hoshruba: Shahnaz Aijazuddin Book Launch

2010-02-26T02:24:00.003+05:30

I know this is too short a notice but this whole launch was organized impromptu and for the reason that we have the fortune of Shahnaz visiting India for next few days.

There will be a lecture today Friday, February 26 at 3.30 pm at Ho-Chi Min Conference Room, 1st Floor, Academy of Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia University by Prof. Syed Fakir Aijazuddin on "Pakistan Your Distant Neighbour" followed by Shahnaz's book launch.

The book launch will have Shahnaz sharing her experiences on translating Rais Ahmed Jafri's abridged version of the Tilism-e-Hoshruba classic, Mahmood speaking on the tradition of Dastangoi, and finally Mahmood and I reading excerpts from Shahnaz's translation and perhaps reciting the original Urdu version from our memories. :-)

Shahnaz would be available to sign copies for those readers who wish to. The book has been published by Penguin Classics.

The event has been organized by ICCR and Jamia Millia Islamia.

For more details call Prof. Shiv Prakash on 09810086353 or me on 09873078449.

Would love to see as many of you who could make it there tom.

Thanks and warm regards,

Danish

Dastangoi Revival; The Story so Far

2010-02-25T22:53:00.006+05:30

Reclaiming a Heritage-Dastangoi in the Present

In August 2002, I had my first encounter with the Dastan-e Amir Hamza. Although I had been an avid reader of Urdu fiction and had even formally studied it for my M Phil dissertation I had never actually read a Dastan nor had I paid any heed to the genre. In that year S. R. Faruqi, the leading scholar of the form, asked me to help out somebody who was interested in making a film on the form. While the film never got made, I read the first volume of his marvelous study of the Dastan-e Amir Hamza. But it was not until 2004 that I actually attempted to engage seriously with it. I became a Sarai fellow that year with the intention of collecting material for a documentary on the tradition. It was only then that I actually approached the texts and when I did so, I found it an exhilarating experience, both as an Urdu lover as well as a theatre actor. The lines were literally crying out to be read aloud. But creating a performance was still far from my mind. During the course of that fellowship as I read more I realized that rather than looking at them merely as a literary achievement, I would have to situate them in performance. Midway through that I was given an opportunity by the India International Centre to present a lecture demonstration on the form. It was while devising that lecture demonstration that I first explored the possibility of actually performing the text. The best way to demonstrate its prowess was to actually let the text speak. Traditional Dastangoi was restricted to a single performer. The innovation I made was to rope in another actor so that we would alternate our recitations and participate as listeners to each other’s stories. Due to the neglect of the form we had very little information about the actual practice of the Art. How did Dastangos sit, how much did they move around, what were individual stylistic feats, did they have breaks, how was audience arranged, did they sing out the poetry, none of these things were very clear. Working closely with Faruqi Saheb and drawing on our experiences as theatre actors, we devised our way to putting together a one hour show.

The first modern Dastangoi performance took place on 4th May 2005 at the India International Auditorium. There were a lot of Urdu writers and journalists, apart from some theatre goers and the members of the centre. From the very beginning the descriptions began to evoke a spontaneous wave of enthusiasm from the audience, soon enough the hall was swinging to wah-wahis and we were borne aloft in this vocal and passionate response to our presentation. What was brought amply home was the vitality of the texts and their ability to regale contemporary audiences. But this was still a predominantly Urdu crowd, how would non-Urdu speakers react to it? I next gave a solo performance at Sarai at the annual fellows workshop and it was a largely non-Urdu, even non-Hindi crowd and they responded to it differently, not so much to the nuances of the language as to the twists and turns of the plot. The India International Centre invited us to perform again, this time at their first annual festival of the Arts and that ratified our effort further.

But in those initial moments my greatest moment of satisfaction as a Dastango came at an unusual venue to an unusual audience. I did a solo show for a group of children from the Spastics Society of India at the steps of the Jama Masjid. The children responded magnificently to the story, in spit of the noise and the crowds and the incidental group of observers who gathered to hear the story provided further joy.

Dastangoi Revival-The Story so Far

Since the initial performance, I have worked with three partners. Apart from innovating on the form by bringing two performers, I have also worked with a woman narrator. We have altogether performed over one hundred and thirty shows in different spaces and cities. These include, the Kala Ghoda festival, Bandra Festival, Mumbai, the Jaipur Literary Festival, the Virasat Festival at Dehradun, performances at Colleges in Delhi under the aegis of the SPIC-MACAY society, the Khuda Bakhsh Library at Patna, the Aligarh Muslim University, Jawahar Lal Nehru Univeristy, the NCPA experimental auditorium at Bombay, the Habitat Centre at Delhi, at Prithvi Theatre Bombay on the invitation of Naseeruddin Shah and his group Motley, shows at Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore on the invitation of the Citizens Foundation of Pakistan, and at New York City at Muslim Voices Festival at the behest of Asia Society and Brooklyn Academy of Music, and numerous other performances at Delhi. Details of the shows, including press reviews are available at www.dastangoi.blogspot.com

We have performed at Colleges, universities, at literary departments, to regular theatre going audiences and we have unfailingly met with an enthusiastic response. While the appreciation and feel for language varies from place to place, almost everybody enjoys the twists and turns of the story that are a hallmark of the oral tradition. The tropes of the story- the triumph of the hero over the villain, the combination of different rasas in one single story, the descriptions of magic, the womenspeak, the role of the sidekicks, find a ready response also because they are so much a part of our contemporary imagination through Hindi cinema which subsumed many of the Dastani variants. Films like Hatim Tai and serials like Betal Pachisi and Chandrakanta have provided a continuity of contact with the Dastani tradition. Then there are others who respond to our performance purely from a theatrical point of view, to the possibilities of drama without props, of creating tension without effects and to the simplicity of the form-two narrators on a bare stage, usually still, dependent wholly on their voices, face and gestures to create drama. This is theatrical storytelling, where it is difficult to determine where enactment stops and narration begins, or where acting takes over from recitation and mimicry from reporting.

We usually perform stories from the Tilism-e Hoshruba, the most well known chapter of the Dastan-e Amir Hamza, and one which is still in print, although it is a misnomer to refer to something as a chapter which extends over eight hefty volumes. But the oral nature of the texts means that we could pick up stories from any part and recite it, repetition and circularity being important devices in oral traditions, since linearity is not the of highest priority for the rendition. The way we work in practice is to study and scan portions from the published texts, edit it down to a stand alone half an hour capsule and then hone it in rehearsals to create a story which can be performed anywhere.

Simultaneously, we have tried to improvise on the form and use it to service different concerns and tastes. Having already innovated on the form by using two performers, I have tried to experiment on the content as well. At a special event to raise funds for a worker activist from Punjab whose limbs had been chopped off by upper caste landlords, we tried to create a Dastan, in the existing form, which would incorporate Bant Singh’s story, accounts of caste oppression and the situation in contemporary Punjab. The show was successful in communicating itself and its concerns even to sections of the audience which had come from rural Punjab. Earlier in 2007 we were invited by Urvashi Butalia of Zubaan Books at the Habitat Centre and Zubaan books to create a Dastangoi performance on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the partition of India. We were preceded at that show by Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi, the Pakistani theatre group Ajoka also participated in that evening. Our presentation centred aound an allegorical retelling of some of the most memorable fiction around the theme of partition. We re-presented older stories or composed new ones like the old and groped our way to a form which was a combination of the dialogic, stand up comic, storytelling and ritual lamentation.

Importance of Dastangoi for our times

Dastangoi is a form of storytelling, a specific form of it which has been honed for centuries by practitioners. At the same time it is also a form of theatre, which relies on intense performances by actors. It can be used to perform traditional stories, created by the Dastangos of the past, and it can also be successfully used to tell contemporary stories. As a performing art, it extends the boundaries of poetic recitation and takes it to the level of performance, as a form of narration it extends to dramatized rendition, and as a form of storytelling it extends to drama through the device of using two actors. Given the history of neglect of the form and given that there has been no known Dastango in the last seventy years, it is important to resurrect a practice that has now been lost to us. But at the same time, it is an important theatrical genre for our times, one that has the potential to transcend the proscenia and reach out to the masses. The simplicity of the form means that it can be performed with equal felicity at a street-side corner or in a proper auditorium. Instead of imposing a given product on the audience which they should passively receive, it invites them to be an active participant in the process of the creation by setting up constant dialogue with them and by resorting to direct addresses to them. At a time when theatre in India is struggling to create new forms and to generate new contents for itself, the importance of Dastangoi as a form which contains both need hardly be emphasized.

At the same time there is much to be said about the stories generated by the Dastangos of yore. It was the practice which generated texts and it would obviously have been some practice which could generate texts of this size, speculated by some to be the longest fictional narrative ever composed anywhere. The stories in themselves share all the conventions and devices used in the immense storytelling repertoire of the Indic tradition. Dastangoi shares parallels with Mahabharata and the Odyssey, as also with medieval fables and qissas but it is also a world onto its own, a teeming universe of beings, objects, spaces and realms. Ostensibly the story of Islamic conquests over non-Islamic peoples, its treatment could not be more profane or secular. The deployment of revered Islamic figures into a secular, fictional narrative, in the most casual way possible, would seem a highly revolutionary act from the perspective of today. And then to invest those figures with a life which freely breaks many Islamic taboos is further evidence that the audiences of the past reacted much more freely to entertainment than we do today. To take just one example, the Muslims in these stories drink very regularly, but they only drink ‘Islami sharab,’ and they have conjugal relations with several women, many of whom are not Muslims. The attitude to body and to bawdiness, to humor and to the realm of the possible is of a kind that is difficult to find in latter day Urdu prose. The stories can cater to high literary tastes as well as plebeian ones. With their teeming worlds, they are also a repository of social mores and norms of the medieval era. The descriptions of fairs, religious events, musical soirees, market places and the representation of all classes and castes and professions of peoples makes the Dastan-e Amir Hamza an invaluable source for learning about our selves in the pre-colonial era.

The Dastan-e Amir Hamza is a highly important chapter of our literary, performative and fictional history. Its neglect is not the neglect of Dastans alone but also of several other forms of performances and creations which have today been entirely lost to us. The art of bhandgiri and its subsequent denigration is something that comes instantaneously to mind, but there was also the amazing world of Parsi theatre, of the theatrical forms of nautanki, swang, naqqali which have been systematically degraded because of the reformist zeal unleashed by colonization. Its excavation and revival is also a way of reconnecting with the self which has been rent asunder by the recasting of our minds, bodies and cultures by a process of an unequal interaction with the hegemonic west.

Proposal for Extending the Practice-New Dastangos, new Dastans and new Spaces

After successfully putting Dastangoi on the map, at least in the capital, I now need to take it beyond the current level. There are a lot of directions in which we can move from here. Not all of them are attainable simultaneously but a beginning and a foray can be made on several fronts. The first and most important is to create more Dastangos. Unless many more people take up Dastangoi, the form itself would not be revived. It would remain a successful show, one with the potential to rejuvenate itself but still a solitary show. The first step in extending its reach is to create new tellers. The fund of existing stories is almost infinite and even if we were to exhaust them we could create newer stories on the given template. To put this into effect, I would need to conduct a series of workshops with aspiring performers, give them a basic training, hand them some of the texts in a Hindi transliteration and see what they can make of it. With the emergence of new Dastangos, we might have newer styles, variations in performances and eventually, even newer texts.

The essence of the art of Dastangos of old lay in improvised storytelling. They could start with bare essentials and weave in the color depending on the predilection of the audience, emphasizing levity somewhere, embroidering poetic passages in other areas. We need to practice our art with some dedication if we are to reach the linguistic, literary and dramatic finesse where marvelous encounters can be conjured up on the spot. I once did a rough calculation and it turned out that if we perform for two hours everyday, day after day, it would take us nine years to exhaust the entirety of the Dastan-e Amir Hamza. We are not about to do that and for vast portions of the Dastan-e Amir Hamza to be told, it would require many more Dastangos.

Along with creating new Dastangos, we also need to create new Dastans. Potentially, there is no limit to the subjects on which a Dastan can be created, I say Dastan specifically, not just a story. Anything and everything, of course, can be contained in a story, but equally one could create a Dastan about anything, global terrorism, water shortages, partition of India, 1857, all depends on the ingenuity of the teller. Only a deep immersion into an understanding of the form can allow one to create something like that, especially extemporaneously. That would require collaborative work, workshops with other practitioners, experiments with artists of other kinds, musicians, painters, installation and performing artists. We’ve had a successful collaboration with another actor and storyteller, Naseeruddin Shah, and after him we’ve trained five Dastangos who have successfully performed in Mumbai, Allahabad, and Gorakhpur. But we have to go a long way before we could recreate the magic at several levels and tell a thousand new stories and retell old stories anew.

Given its near perfect marriage between literature and performance, Dastangoi is an important resource for educational purposes. It could be successfully used in schools to inculcate skills of storytelling, literary composition, narration and performance. A form of theatre where each child can be a participant as well as a creator, samples of the text need to be a part of the syllabi of Urdu and Hindi because the Dastan-e Amir Hamza contains scores of couplets and quatrains of Hindi, Braj, Awadhi and Magahi as well as speech patterns of different classes of people. As a repository of the written word it also connects us to idioms, usages, figures of speech and everyday words which have been lost to us because of the insistence on purity and a fear of the rustic.

Other than creating new Dastangos what the practice most needs right now is newer audiences. While its ability to regale people in the theatre space, regular theatre going audiences, has now been conclusively proven, it yet has the ability to attract even those who are not used to watching performances in the theatre. I have sometimes defined it as high class masala and it can attract people who have been weaned purely on cinema or television because in one sense it is the precursor of cinema, full of plausible implausibilities, twists and turns of plot, formulaic plot devices and poetic interludes. Its staple content is descriptions of war, romance, convivial assemblies and magic of a kind that would make ordinary magicians pale away. It is in some ways the anti-thesis, as well as a precursor of magical-real. In spite of the over all decline of Urdu in this country, the oral performances of mushairas remain a huge draw for Urdu-familiar audiences in most parts of the country. Replete with Urdu poetry and phrases, rich with some of the best passages of Urdu prose ever written, Dastangoi has the ability to tap into this invisible but thriving audience. For that it would need to move away from the proscenia of big cities and travel to smaller cities and newer spaces. Over the next couple of years I would like to travel to cities like Patna, Lucknow, Rampur, Faizabad, Jaunpur, Bhopal, smaller cities which have a tradition of literary production in Urdu and see how small town audiences react, today, to these Dastans. At the same time I would also like to tap different audiences within cities, to actually test out today’s chowks and street corners as performance spaces and assess whether Dastangoi can work as well in these places as it once did in the past. Dastangoi’s uniqueness lay in transcending the divide between elite and popular culture and even today, as the varying response to our performance establishes, it has the ability to bridge the divide.

Dastangoi sits at the cusp of performance and narration and I would like to explore its possibilities as a purely audio form. A few initial radio performances for a private channel elicited a very enthusiastic response, from the Urdu diaspora, as well as elsewhere and on the basis of that one could think of bringing out audio products based on Dastangoi. The second largest number of books exported from India today are in Urdu, which cater to a large Urdu diaspora in several continents, and Dastangoi has the ability to reach out to those audiences too.

I hesitate from using the word revival in the context of our practice in the present because it is hardly possible to revive something which was deeply embedded in a particular phase of technology and culture. Dastangoi was a product of a largely oral culture and although it initially made a highly successful transition to print, it was created at a time when there were several other oral art forms in circulation. In order to unearth its mode of production, one would need to do further research on other kinds of performative and oral artifacts that were in currency in the nineteenth century. One would have to learn more about the art of bhandgiri, of marsiyagoi, of poetry as performance, of the mode of creation of Parsi plays and one would need to delve into what has been called the ‘commercial print culture’ of the nineteenth century. I also need support to simultaneously research the past of the practice. Besides, it would take a number of years, if not more, for me to simply read the existing 46 volumes of the Dastani texts, besides reading other versions of it in other languages. One of early Hindi’s most successful commercial stories is Chandrakanta, printed in 18 volumes by the same Nawal Kishore Press that printed the Hamza dastans and it freely borrows most of the tropes of Dastan, including Aiyyars, and obviously must have been popular enough to run for so long.

So far, the few studies that have been of Dastans and Dastangoi have concentrated on its literary qualities and modes of production. I would like to situate it in the wider performative context and examine its relations with other forms of performance, equally neglected many of them, and in that context I am very keen to explore the dialogic relations between Dastangoi and early Parsi theatre. I use the word dialogue here with a pun, for dialogues were very central to Parsi theatre, and following it to Hindi cinema, and in some of the stories that we recite one gets a distinct feel of Parsi theatre. Parsi theatre and Dastans, both came to rest on p rint, songs and chapbooks of Parsi theatre were printed in cheap editions already by the 1870s, and how that affects form is also something that needs investigation.

I would like to explore the idea of an aggregative performance, one where we build on the stories in a continuous series of performances. This could take temporal or spatial shape. We could give an extended performance, running up to many hours on a particular day and time. Alternately, we could fix a space and build up a performance over a number of days, weeks or months. Or we could devise a combination of the two.

My overall idea is to delve more fully and deeply into the form, its history and its conditions of production so that I can convert what has been, sometimes, a piecemeal effort into a full time devotion. I have been a researcher as well as a practitioner all my life and my various interests in cinema, theatre, literary Urdu and Indian history, are brought together by this form. I am currently finishing a book of documents on the uprising of 1857 which is a follow up of some translation and research work I had done for William Dalrymple on his latest book, The Last Mughal. Dastangoi brings together the domains of literature, theatre and poetry in performance and, given its interplay with Parsi theatre, and cinema. My interests and experience range across those domains and I feel I am in the best position to extend the practice as well as research its past. As a performer-student or researcher-practitioner I have been fortunate thus far in having the guidance, the support and the inspiration of S. R. Faruqi, Urdu’s leading critic and writer, the winner of Saraswati Samman, who is the only one, of the modern scholars, to have fully and seriously studied Dastans and their mode of production. He is also the only person in the world who has a complete set of the 46 volumes of the Hamza cycle. We have also had inputs from Habib Tanvir, one of the most outstanding theatre directors produced by modern India. He has helped us, if I may use the term, theatricise the form better. But there are questions which we will have to resolve as we practice our craft longer, how far can one stretch the performative aspect of oral narration, what is the difference between a Dastango becoming the person he represents and an actor assuming the persona of somebody else, what modulation of speech and voice can compensate for a sedentary position, how does one use the body if one is seated, questions which can only be attempted by a more intense immersion in the form.

Mahmood Farooqui

What is Dastangoi?

2010-02-25T21:59:00.001+05:30

The word Dastangoi refers to the art of storytelling, it is a compound of two Persian words Dastan and goi which means to tell a Dastan. Dastans were epics, often oral in nature, which were recited or read aloud and in essence were like medieval romances everywhere. Telling tales of adventure, magic and warfare, Dastans mapped new worlds and horizons, encountered the unseen and protected the hero through many travails and lovers as he moved on his quest. The hero’s adventures could sometimes parallel the mystic quest, at other times the story narrated a purely profane tale. In the process of telling the story the narrators freely borrowed tropes and themes from other stories, thus it was that Rumi’s Masnavi and Arabian Nights both came to contain many stories from the Panchtantra tradition. While Dastans had many principals and many stories, the story of Hamza began to stand out early on. Beginning with an unknown Arabic version the Persian versions of the story narrated the life and adventures of Amir Hamza, supposedly an uncle of the Prophet Mohammed. Marked out by fairies, djinns and prophecies, Hamza travels to different lands in his infancy and even as a young child shows great physical prowess and daring. His fame spreads far and wide and he is called by the chief minister of the King of Persia to aid the latter in his troubles, encountering many adventures, beings, species and realms Hamza remains triumphant and unvanquished, right to the end.

Hamza narrative in India

By the sixteenth century, versions of the Hamza story had begun to circulate in India. Mentioned first in the Deccan courts, the story reached its artistic apogee in the court of Emperor Akbar. By then, specialized tellers of the story, called Dastangos had emerged. There is very little information on what the ingredients of their art were, but they were sufficiently distinct to merit a separate genre for themselves. Akbar himself was exceedingly fond of the narrative and used to recite it himself. One of the first artistic projects commissioned under him was an illustrated version of the Hamza story which became known to posterity as Hamzanama. It was a mammoth artistic undertaking which consisted of over 1200 folios, each at least a yard and a half by a yard in size, making it an unusual picture project, with the text inscribed at the back. Nothing of that size, ambition or scale was ever attempted again by the Mughal regime, attesting to the importance of the Hamza story in the medieval imagination. Some scholars have conjectured that the large size of the panels indicates their use as a kind of an audio-visual story telling, the narrators would stand behind the panels and narrate the story from the text and the panels would be changed as the story progressed, envisaging it as a form of proto-television. For the next two centuries, different Persian versions of the Hamza story circulated in India, with occasional mention of the Dastangos who performed them.

There were at the same time other Dastans, sharing tropes and conventions of the Hamza narrative which, in their emphases, begin to differ from the Persian versions of the narrative. Bostan-e Khyal, composed at the end of the eighteenth century enhances greatly the role of magic in its telling of a fantastical tale. Given primacy too is the art of aiyyari, trickery, a relatively neglected feature in Persian storytelling.

Hamza narrative in Urdu

The first Urdu version of the Hamza narrative was published at the beginning of the nineteenth century under the aegis of the Fort William College, an institution established by the East India Company at Calcutta which was the first to edit and publish some of the key texts of the North Indian literary tradition. Alongside the ‘Dastan-e Amir Hamza,’ other Dastans were also published by the College, which included Mir Amman’s Bagh-o Bahar, a tale that was reprinted over twenty times in the nineteenth century and one which is taught to this day in the syllabi of Urdu literature. Bagh-o Bahar was selected by the colonial administrators as a text which, with suitable emendations, was used to learn the native languages, a status that was not accorded to the Hamza story.

As print came to North India in the middle of the nineteenth century, stories, fables and Dastans proved to be the most important motor for the print revolution, along side religious literature. Tales such as Nal Damyanti and qissas such as Qissa-e Meherafroz-o Dilbar were printed many times over. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, however, the Hamza tradition in Urdu was thriving more as an oral performance tradition rather than as a successful print commodity. While Dastangos at Rampur, many of them migrants from Lucknow, were committing the narrative to paper, it remained in manuscript form. But already, the stories were expanding, while very few Persian versions exceeded a single volume the Urdu manuscripts had begun to extend to several volumes. Acquiring primacy too were new areas in the story, the tricksters and the magical and wondrous worlds created by sorcerers, pretenders to divinity many of them, which in their colorfulness, imagery and fancifulness were like nothing seen in Persian literature.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the practice of Dastangoi was sufficiently entrenched in most parts of Northern India. In Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s ethnographic account of Delhi Asar-us-Sanadid, Dastangos are mentioned prominently. Every thursday, they are said to gather at the steps of the Jama Masjid where they recite their tales. It is interesting that a mosque should have been the site for a profane storytelling for the Quran specifically mentions poets and storytellers and asks the believers to be wary of them for they mislead with the magic of their words. Mirza Ghalib, the famous Urdu poet was exceedingly fond of the Hamza Dastan and for a period of two years used to organize weekly performance sessions at his house in Delhi. He composed a long poem using characters and tropes from the Hamza story and once wrote in a letter to a friend that it was raining and he had just acquired, ‘six chapters of the Hamza dastan and sixteen casks of wine, what more do I want from life.’

The Apogee of Dastangoi-the Hamza narrative in Lucknow

The upheaval of 1857 turned out to be a boon for Lucknow as thousands of artists, poets and writers migrated there from Delhi, and this included several Dastangos. The first historian of Lucknow, Abdul Halim Sharar wrote in Guzishta Lucknow about the proliferation of the art of Dastangoi in the city after the mutiny. Every nobleman, he said, had made it a practice to employ a Dastango in his retinue as chowks or city squares became a favored site for performance of the art. Sharar defined it as the art of ‘extemporaneous composition,’ and said that it rested on descriptions of four phenomena, war, romance, trickery and magical artifices. The Dastangos in Sharar’s time, therefore, were not reciting a story learnt from memory, they were improvising on the bare structures which had been handed down to them.

Simultaneously, after the mutiny, the Hamza story began to enjoy great currency in print. While the Fort William version had already been reprinted several times, Munshi Nawal Kishore, the legendary publisher from Lucknow commissioned another edition of the story one which, with minor changes, continued to be printed for an entire century and was last published in the 1960s. Persian versions of the story were also being printed at the same time.

By that time, conventions of the Dastans were beginning to affect productions of modern prose works in Urdu. Fasana-e Azad, the first novel in Urdu, is structured like a Dastan as the picaresque narrative meanders from country to country. At the same time the tremendous success of the Parsi theatrical productions, in Hindi and Urdu, interspersed as it was with song and dance, like the Dastans, also had a give and take relationship with Dastans. Both were tied to the commercial print revolution too, as songbooks of stage performances came to be printed, exactly as Dastans created in oral performances came to find a life in the print form.

In 1881, buoyed by the success of the Hamza story, Nawal Kishore embarked on a highly ambitious literary print project. He assembled some of the leading Dastangos of Lucknow and commissioned them to produce the entire Hamza narrative as it existed in oral and written records. The team of three writers Mohammed Husain Jah, Ahmed Husain Qamar and Sheikh Tasadduq Husain, joined later by others, started work on reproducing in print the virtual entirety of the Hamza tradition. The result, by the end of a labor of twenty five years, was a series consisting of 46 huge volumes, each about a thousand pages long. Each of the volumes could be read as an independent entity, or one could read it as part of the whole.

We have very scanty information about the exact mode of reproduction, or production, followed by these narrator-authors. Although they repeatedly claim to be basing their rendition on preexisting texts, often in Persian, and ascribe authorship to august figures of antiquity, none of the previously existing versions they quote can be found. It is a reasonable guess that the expansion of the story from a single volume to this mammoth series was a creation mainly of the performative tradition, they were circulating in the oral realm, which may have rested on written records in the form of key or guide books which outlined the main characters and the run of the plot but the body was supplied by the narrator as he recited the story. We don’t even know whether these Dastangos dictated the stories, and they came to be written by scribes, or whether they actually wrote it in their hands.

While the Hamza story was performed and recited in many other parts of the Islamicate world, in places as far away as Morocco and Indonesia, in most other places it was a part of a musical storytelling tradition. Alfred Lord and Milman Parry, in the course of their investigation of the Homeric bardic tradition, studied the Hamza singers of Bosnia and produced a groundbreaking work called ‘The Singer of Tales’ on the oral tradition. But the narrators they worked with also used musical instruments. The Indian Dastangos, by contrast relied purely on words and their art of narration to tell the story, aligning it closer to literary performance.

The 46 volume Hamza cycle is the crowning glory of Urdu literary tradition and the summit of a thousand years of the Indo-Islamic storytelling tradition. The sheer fecundity of the dastan- with thousands of invented names, tools, weapons, beings, with an overflowing vocabulary- as also its immense popularity had a long lasting effect on other forms of narratives. It appropriated revered figures of the Islamic past into a profane narrative. Its treatment of themes like humor, body, macabre, eschatology, seduction, wining and dining are all of a time when public tastes and cultures in India had not been transformed under the colonial imperative. For sheer literary virtuosity, for its treatment and range of linguistic tenors, its use of metaphors, similes and all the other conventions of literary and poetic conventions, the Dastan-e Amir Hamza is an outstanding achievement. While it deals with the fantastic, the fantastic is grounded in the real and the social, so it has also been seen as a remarkable social document of the pre-colonial order. While the literary trappings appeal to high brow minds, the content of the stories, replete as they are with tales of seduction, competitive magical encounters and confrontations between tricksters and magicians could appeal to uninitiated audiences too.

Recasting of Urdu Letters and the Marginalisation of Dastans

As S. R. Faruqi, among others, has shown, Urdu literary world and its values were recast at the end of the nineteenth century by a group of reformers who looked down on the ‘artificial and conceited,’ works of Urdu writers. Seeking to yoke literature to social reform and emphasizing purity of thought and simplicity of style, Urdu’s leading critics privileged truthful experience rather than exaggerated inventions. Desirous of mirroring western, more particularly Victorian, literary values they praised moralistic and realistic fiction and long narrative poems. Dastans, by then, were already an object of religious censure, women particularly were advised against reading them because it would corrupt them. At the same time colonial officers often found Dastans to be immoral and obscene. Added to this was the growing contempt of Urdu’s own critics who found Dastans to be childish, inconsistent, implausible and too repetitive. The only permissible fictional form for the reformers was the novel and the Dastan was a veritable anti-novel, not a precursor to it but quite a different form.

Although Dastans continued to be published into the middle of the twentieth century, their popularity was clearly waning. Many of its conventions had passed into Cinema, the oral culture of which it was a product was giving place to a literary culture and the spaces where it was traditionally performed were being recast. In 1928, just a few years before sound revolutionized the Indian film industry, Mir Baqar Ali died. He was the last famous Dastango of India. The connection is not merely incidental. Reports of his performances establish beyond doubt that he was perhaps the last great traditional actor to be born in this country.

“He never told dastans-he presented lively, moving pictures; or rather you could say that he himself became a picture. He was a thin, slightly built man, but while he was reciting the dastan, if a king appeared in the story, the listeners felt themselves standing before an imperious monarch. Sometimes, if he spoke the words of some old woman, he adopted the very style of speech of respectable elderly ladies, and even (despite) his teeth became quite toothless…He knew thousands of verses by heart. He had such a command of language that poets and writers accepted Mir Saheb as an authority...”

Over time the genre became so neglected that today the Dastan-e Amir Hamza has completely receded from public consciousness. Few critics have engaged seriously with it, few Urdu students read them and in fact the whole set of the 46 volumes can today only be found in only one collection in the world. While their neglect as literature is inexcusable, they have also been wholly obliterated from the canon of performing Arts. As anecdotes of Mir Baqar make clear, their performance required an exceptional command over rhetoric, delivery, mimicry, ventriloquism and spontaneous composition. Moreover, Dastangoi was one feature of an oral/performative culture where the public arena was the first and perhaps the most natural site of performance. Qissagos, contortionists, sooth-sayers, faqirs, magicians, madaris, animal fights, mushairas and sundry other activities provide a prismatic context in which Dastans were composed and performed. Their skill as actors lay in commanding the audience attention at all times, an audience that in the case of a public performance was likely to fritter away at the slightest drop of intensity. This demanded acting and performing skills that range from drama to dance to mime to performance art. Rather than occupying a central place in our artistic heritage therefore, they have been sent to total oblivion.

Mahmood Farooqui

Iranian Storytellers

2010-02-24T14:29:00.001+05:30

A brief write up on contemporary storytellers from Iran. Thanks Rajesh Devraj for the link,

http://www.utne.com/Arts/Irans-Streetwise-Storytellers-Naghals.aspx

Dastan at Aravali

2010-02-19T17:25:00.004+05:30

A treat for those in Gurgaon, Harayana. We're performing at Hotel Optus Sarovar Premiere, 43-47, Sector 29, City Centre, Gurgaon at the behest of Aravali Centre for Art & Culture on Sunday, Feb 21, 2010 at 5.30 pm. Would love to see you all there.

Thanks

Dastangoi in Bombay on the 13th and 14th of Feb

2010-02-13T11:31:00.002+05:30

Dastangos Rajesh Kumar, Rasika Dugal, Sheikh Usman, and Rana Pratap Senger will perform today at 5pm at the Marathi Bhasha Bhavan Auditorium, Kalina University, Kalina.

A special childrens Dastan will be performed by Mahmood and Danish at the Kala Ghoda festival on the 14th of Feb, at 5 pm at the David Sasson library, Fort, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai.

Dastan at Kala Ghoda

2010-02-12T13:14:00.002+05:30

We return to Kala Ghoda Arts Festival after a hiatus of three years. Watch our new dastangos - Rajesh Kumar, Rasika Dugal, Sheikh Usman, and Rana Pratap Senger - today Feb 12 at 8 pm at David Sassoon Library, Fort, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai and then a special children's dastan by Mahmood and I on Feb 14 at 5 pm at the same venue.

Hope to see you all there.

Thanks

Danish

Homeward Bound--Dastangoi at Sarai, 9th February

2010-02-07T13:37:00.002+05:30

All journeys, being caravans of sorts, need their resting posts, their home run. Sarai is Dastangoi's home stretch. This year is the tenth anniversary of Sarai. Dastangoi started at Sarai, nearly five years ago. It started at Sarai not in any casual passive sense. Sarai's fellowship got me started on Dastangoi and it was the enthusiastic, aggressive and rapturous response by Sarai that allowed Dastangoi to find a natural home in Delhi.

And Dastangoi and myself are only one off shoot of Sarai and its vision. There are hundreds of others. But since this is not the place to speak about Sarai I will let everyone find their own place in and around it.

We will perform the story that first started Dastangoi, many februarys ago.

Six pm, Sarai Lawns, 29 Rajpur Road.

Peepli Live directed by Anusha Rizvi: A report from Sundance

2010-02-05T15:28:00.001+05:30

Fete accompli

By Mahmood Farooqui

Posted On Monday, February 01, 2010

Our first screening of Peepli Live took place at the Egyptian theatre, down Main Street, the only screening venue which is located in the Park City. The quaint theatre hall was completely full and the first public screening of the film and also the premiere, went down much better than we expected. A hall full of Americans seemed to enjoy every nuance of what is a very Indian film. The Q and A afterwards, and this was true of every subsequent screening, had charged up Americans wanting to unravel complex economic issues of rural India.

The festival itself is spread out over several theatres several miles from each other and they are all unconventional venues. The Temple theatre is a Jewish synagogue, the Library is located at a school, The Yarrow is a hotel, Prospector is a lodge while the Eccles, the largest of them all, is in a school premise. There are free buses to and fro the venue and helpful volunteers and drivers look after the arrangements.

This year 1590 people, many of them pensioners and film buffs, have traveled, at their own expense and arrangements, to do unpaid service at the festival. They work as ticket sellers, cinema managers, ushers, ballot collectors and traffic wardens. And Park City is not the most economical of places to stay at because it is a Ski resort town.

I travelled thirty miles to see a film at the Sundance Resort, a ski and recreational venue which is owned by Redford, who apparently stays there all the year round and skies when the festival ends, where you would only go to see a film. And incredibly, even that place was full. The next day we all traveled to Salt Lake City for our second screening. The place was swarming with Indians, who had mostly come to behold (and touch and harass) the producer of Peepli Live, Aamir Khan. The Indians, well, they were so excited with the star and so many of them rushed out after him that they all forgot to vote for the film.

The audience awards are decided on the basis of the ballot that every film watcher submits and in the past the popular audience choices have gone on to become blockbusters, including Sex, Lies and Videotape which launched Steven Soderbergh's career.

At the heart of Sundance lies the Sundance Institute and the festival is only one part of its numerous activities. It runs a film lab which has seeded a large number of films, a theatre and music lab, a screenwriting lab and workshops go on right through the year for aspirants and hopefuls from all over the world. Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs was first premiered here and it is the independent film and the documentary that Sundance is known for. Low budget, cutting edge cinema has been Sundance's slogan and through most of its twenty odd years it has succeeded in living up to its motto.

Although the refrain is loud and clear, year after year, that Sundance is not the same as it used to be, that it has become successful and has sold out, there is still a very large number of documentary and indie films that turn up year after year. For all its four categories, docu and feature, for world and US sections, it receives more than a thousand entries every year and there is, in addition, a Short Film section, a Spotlight section and several other kinds of showings.

The programmers who watch and decide the films to be seen, and thereby set the agenda for the nature of feature and non-feature film making, are incredibly involved with films they have nurtured. John Cooper, the director of the festival, who worked in the program section for years, has been credited with returning the festival to the indie and to the experimental and incredulously he knows or knows of practically each of the two hundred odd films that screen this year. Most of Sundance staffers have been around for decades, nobody seems to ever leave this place. And this is also true for filmmakers, writers and audiences, many of whom have been coming here for years, if not decades.

Since the success of Sex, Lies and Videotape and Reservoir Dogs the studios have turned up every year and sometimes bidding starts right after the screening and deals are sealed overnight. Everyone hopes to sell their films but few actually get sold. What will interest the American audiences, everyone claims to know it but few can actually predict it. Of course our film, despite the obvious enjoyment of a lot of Americans, seems too remote for the Americans who obviously want another Slumdog.

Three documentaries we saw slammed the American establishment very strongly. Casino Jack and the United States of Money exposed the lobbying and corruption straitjacket around Washington while the Secrets of the Tribe tore apart the powerful and influential American Anthropology establishment. But the star turn was reserved for Michael Winterbottom's adaptation of Naomi Klein's hit book The Shock Doctrine. The panel discussion afterwards included Robert Redford and the overflowing hall seemed totally in unison with the condemnation of neo-liberal economics portrayed by the film.

The list of Sundance products, either as debutants here or as people who were directly or indirectly mentored by the Institute, is impressive. They include Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, Jonathon Dayton, Nick Hornby, Miguel Arteta, David O Russell, Roberto Rodriguez, the Weinstein brothers and several others. There are filmmakers here from Greenland, from Iraq from faraway Korea and China. The thing with selling and success is that if films begin to sell rapidly and all too easily then it would seem that what is premiering here is something the establishment is totally at ease with.

Once they become successful, all counter cultures, risk becoming the establishment and there is no easy way around this. So should we worship obscurity for its own sake? At the last screening on Friday, I was in conversation with an intense South African who said ours was the best film he had seen. When he walked away the lady who was talking to Anusha (Rizvi, director of Peepli Live), a part of a community of filmmakers called the Oklahoma filmmakers, turned to me and said, ‘gosh, I wish I had taken a picture of him.’ Turns out he was John Savage, of The Deer Hunter fame. Gosh, I really want to come back here.

(Farooqui is the co-director and the casting director of Peepli Live the first Indian film at the Sundance World Cinema Competition)

Peepli Live

About Peepli Live

On the eve of national elections in an Indian village Peepli, two farmers, Natha and Budhia, face losing their land due to an unpaid government loan. Desperate, they seek help from an apathetic local politician, who suggests they commit suicide to benefit from a government program that aids the families of indebted deceased farmers. When a journalist overhears what the two farmers plan to do for the sake of their families, the media goes into frenzy about whether or not Natha will commit suicide.

Dastan at Magh Mela

2010-02-01T20:35:00.004+05:30

Photograph: Rajesh Kumar Singh - AP

When Rakesh Singh casually tossed the idea of performing dastaans at the Magh Mela at Sangam in October 2009 to us we were fascinated by it. I’ll be very honest. I’ve never been to a Mela at Sangam. Though we’ve all grown up with Kumbh Mela deeply engrained in our cultural consciousness (for the longest time the protagonist brothers of our Hindi films would separate from each other at a Kumbh Mela) but I still couldn’t be at one ever.

However, once we agreed to the proposal we started mulling over our content for the Mela performance. Mahmood wished that we perform a version of Ganga Avataran Katha, a dastanized version, and what better place to debut it than Sangam itself. We even procured a Sanskrit and a Braj version of the katha from Kamal Swaroop. However, our respective commitments didn’t spare us enough time to prepare one. Finally, we’ve had to inform Srijan that we’d be repeating one of our staple acts.

Closer to the date we realized that Mahmood and Anusha won’t be able to make it to Magh Mela because of their Sundance commitment. And thus we had to draw upon our reserve strength. Rana and Usman immediately agreed to it. This would be their second gig after a brilliant debut at the Bandra Literature Festival in Mumbai in November 2009. And thus amidst a fog engulfing almost the whole of North India, our train screeched halted at Allahabad station around 5.30 in the morning on January 18, 2010, and we stepped out on to the platform inhaling the nippy Allahabad air, ready to give a first of its kind Dastangoi performance.

I am sure when Mir Ahmed Ali was spinning Hoshruba with his disciples in the 19^th century Lucknow some of these tales must have percolated to the banks of Ganga but whose there to verify this now. In our modern times this would definitely be a first.

Utpala Shukla was a perfect hostess. She, her mother, her husband Anshu (a poet), and her sister Supriya Shukla opened their house and their kitchen for us and were perfect hosts. We spent the morning at Bal Bharti School in Civil Lines with Mr. Zafar Bakht, his staff, and the 8^th standard students of his school. We talked about Dastaans, our experiences as actors, and made the kids do some theatre exercises. The enthused kids made our throats go hoarse from shouting over the din that they created with their excitement. It was an afternoon well spent.

Our performance was scheduled post 6 in the evening at the Prashaasan Pandal at the Magh Mela. It was an extremely cold and a foggy day in Allahabad. In fact Allahabad had the lowest temp in the whole of north

India

that day. But this didn’t dampen the spirit at the Mela in anyway. It was teeming with spirit. Blaring loudspeakers, colourful tents, unusual lighting patterns, nervously patrolling police, announcements made with perfunctory diligence, smokes from tea stalls and makeshift restaurants greeted us. We were immediately subsumed in the wispy, graying ambience.

The Sahota Bros from Punjab were performing before us. They’re famous for singing Paash’s poetry. And when they broke into the tune of perhaps Paash’s most famous poem “Sabse Khatarnaak,” the response from the crowd was rapturous. There were some 200 odd people in the tent. They varied from vagabond sadhus, to poor pilgrims from whichever place you wish to imagine, to middleclass Allahabadis and small town devotees, to stray onlookers.

While the stage was being set up I read Paash’s poem that Sahotas had performed, and Habib Saheb’s poem “Daanishtaan mar jaane mein bhi zulm ka pehloo shaamil hai” from his play Dekh Rahe Hain Nain. Later I introduced the tradition of Dastan but the highpoint of that introduction was when a gentleman shouted at me from the audience “Please don’t bore us! Send the Dastan guys fast!” I thought this was the triumph of our art form. It’s acceptance does not rest on personalities. People are interested in the stories and not the tellers of those stories. Anyway, this interjection led to great amusement among the organizers. But I thought it was only wise to vacate the stage immediately and hand it over to Rana and Usman.

And what ensued after my exit was pure experience. Rana and Usman enthralled the audience with such aplomb that a lady accused me for bringing such a short performance to the Mela. You guys hardly performed for ten minutes. I looked at my watch and it was over 40 minutes since we've been on the stage. J

Thanks and be there for our upcoming performances.

Danish

Wonderful new translation of the Compressed Tilism-e Hoshruba

2010-01-18T12:11:00.001+05:30

Please buy this---the best possible introduction to the Tilism-e Hoshruba from which we perform Dastans... Easy to read, fluent and deeply engrossing. A huge achievement.

A pioneering translation of a much loved epic fantasy from the subcontinent

The complete story made available in English for the first time

Penguin Books India

presents

TILISM-E-HOSHRUBA

The Enchantment of the Senses

Translated from Urdu by Shahnaz Aijazuddin

‘Shahnaz Aijazuddin has done something remarkable’—Intezar Hussain, Dawn

Tilism-e-Hoshruba is an epic narrative of the adventures of the legendary Persian hero Emir Hamza—the protagonist of Hamza Nama—his sons and grandsons. The epic opens with the commander-in-chief of the Islamic army, Hamza, pursuing Laqa, who makes false claims to divinity. Laqa takes refuge in Kohistan, adjacent to the enchanted land of Hoshruba, ruled by the formidable King of Sahirs, Afrasiyab Jadoo. Afrasiyab reveres Laqa and deputes his sahirs or wizards to help him fight Hamza.

Hamza’s grandson Asad then sets out to conquer Hoshruba, assisted by the clever trickster Amar, who possesses divine artefacts such as a cloak of invisibility and a magic pouch containing parallel worlds. Though aided by powerful allies and beset at every step by magical snares, dangerous enchantments and seductive sorceresses, the Islamic army finally conquers Hoshruba.

Tilism-e-Hoshruba has enthralled generations of readers with its chivalrous heroes, breathtakingly beautiful princesses, powerful sahirs, sahiras and demons, and their deepest and darkest magics.

This brilliant condensed translation by Shahnaz Aijazuddin sensitively reinterprets the highly-Persianized Urdu of the original text into this eminently readable book that retains the essence of the original.

Penguin Classics Rs. 650

About the Translator

Shahnaz Aijazuddin is an accomplished writer who lives in Lahore, Pakistan. Through this pioneering translation distilling a lengthy text spread over seven volumes, she shares the enduring enchantment of Tilism-e-Hoshruba with a wider readership. Her first book Lost from View was published in 1994.

The translator- Shahnaz Aijazuddin is available for email interviews;

For more information or to schedule an interview with the author please contact Smriti Khanna-Mehra at 9999003025 or smriti.khanna@in.penguingroup.com

Dastangoi at MAAGH MELA, Allahabad

2010-01-18T12:09:00.001+05:30

Rana and Usman will narrate the story of Azar Jadu today, 18th January, at the Magh Mela at Allahabad in what will be a truly unique Sangam by the banks of the Ganga...Watch this space for what happened and how...

Before The Divide...

2010-01-14T22:47:00.001+05:30

Our film makes it to Sundance

2009-12-06T22:42:00.002+05:30

To all our friends and well wishers

We are very happy to inform you that the film that Mahmood, Danish and I have been working on is now complete and has been accepted as an entry to the world cinema competition section at the Sundance film festival 2010. Previously our film was called The Falling... the name has now changed to PEEPLI LIVE.

Anusha Rizvi

Come November

2009-11-28T20:41:00.002+05:30

This has been a very satisfying month for me, with two major gains. One, the induction of new Dastangos and two, the performances we put up for children at the Bookaroo festival in Delhi.

The October workshops in Bombay threw up seven serious apprentices with whom we worked closely in November. Rasika Duggal and Rajesh Kumar worked on the Mehtab Jadu story as a pair and Rana Senger and Sheikh Usman prepared the Aazar Jadu story. Meanwhile Stuti, Sunil and Manu Dhingra continued to rehearse. Rajesh and Rasika debuted at the Prithvi Festival on the 12th as part of the Platform performance and acquitted themselves wonderfully. It was their first performance and I think they did better than Himanshu and I had done on our debut way back--on 4th May 2005 to be precise. It was a good house at Prithvi, about a hundred and twenty five people and the first time for many of them. I am grateful to the legendary filmmaker Kamal Swarup, Shama Zaidi, Atul Tiwari and others who turned up to encourage them.

Then on the 15th Rana and Usman, along with Rajesh and Danish, made their debut at the Bandra Festival in the soon to be transformed Pioneer Hall. There were some eighty to hundred people there in what is a challenging space for a performance. In spite of the chaos and the last minute preparations the show went off quite well. So well in fact that those who have not seen a previous performance had the same wondrous response as the one we are used to. A documentary filmmaker Mini Vaid who saw it for the first time was so taken up that she wanted to make a film on it and there were others who thought it was fabulous. Bandra festival in fact then asked for a repeat performance and Rasika and Rajesh performed the Mehtab Jadu story on the 25th last. To my immensely greater satisfaction they did this when I wasn't even around.

So three shows by debutants in one month. And now we have just finished with two back to back shows in Delhi taking the total count for shows this month to six, the maximum that Dastangoi has achieved in a month so far.

Our two shows at Bookaroo were a nerve wracking time for me. We were performing for children in this manner for the first time (there have been two shows before this, one for the Spastic Society which I did on the steps of Jama Masjid, way back in 2005/6 and one for children of an Old Delhi school) and I was very apprehensive about how they would receive it. The first show, on the 27th morning, at the Sardar Patel Vidyalaya was aimed at children from classes tenth and eleventh of four schools, Amity, Vasant Valley, Bluebells and Sardar Patel. We chose the Dhobi story, where Amar wreaks havoc at Hairat's city, because it was in a simpler language and not so 'adult.' It was a huge cavernous space, more like a hangar than an auditorium and we had only one floor mike, but it went off alright. Of couse they shuffled and chatted and were slightly restless but a fair few of them were with the story and seemed to enjoy it well enough. It was actually a big success. At least six hundred more people got to learn of Amar Aiyyar and Amir Hamza and Dastangoi and a large number seemed pretty thrilled at it.

The show today, on the 28th this being Baqrid, was at Sanskriti Anandgram and I was actually shitting bricks when I reached there and saw the toddlers and the anarchic young spirits who were gambolling about. How would we hold them, with our Urdu and with their English! We had chosen to perform a story from the one volume Hamza Dastan, not the usual Tilism-e Hoshruba, relating to Amar and Hamza;s Madarsa days. Mulla, Madarsa, Alif-Bey, nothing was familiar to them. The good thing was that of the hundred and twenty people there, the majority were parents and distractedly, some very pretty mothers. The children were mostly five six years old, though and I doubt if anyone, other than television and Shinshan, can hold their attention for very long. So I started very skeptically and like at Sardar Patel, tried to crack a few joked to get their attention. The mikes got in the way because the lapelles started going off but we chugged along. We had decided to dash through the whole story and not worry too much about the response. While the adults were having a gala time at Amar Aiyyar's cruelty to his Mulla, the children were a bit listless. There were a couple wandering around the stage, while one started talking in the standmike as we were narrating. Bloody anarchists. People meandered in and out but we did manage the undivided attention of about twenty children, who were there right through the story, and of varying ages. Then towards the end when I started making noises and playing the shrill wife we got our first unadulterated (I mean un-adulted) laughter from the bunch. That was very thrilling.

The trick was to enthuse them about Amar Aiyyar and it is a pity that we could not get his picture going in time. But I think that by the end of it we did manage to introduce Amir Hamza and Amar Aiyyar to a large number of them and for some, I hope, memorably so.

This should open new vistas for us. Performances for children, for schools so that hopefully instead of merely growing up as better citizens they should grow up as better listeners to the Amar and Amir stories, as better patrons for Dastangois.

Lovely I say.

2009-11-26T12:45:00.002+05:30

We return to Delhi with a special tale of Amir Hamza and Amar Aiyyaar's childhood at the Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival. The venue is the amphitheatre at the Sanskriti Anandgram, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, New Delhi at 4 pm on Saturday November 28, 2009. For more details and other festival activities please visit http://bookaroo.in

Hope to see some of you there.

Thanks and best regards,
D

The Bandra Feast Continues...

2009-11-25T10:16:00.002+05:30

Our performance at Bandra Festival on November 15th was appreciated enough to merit a recall. Please drown yourselves in Hoshruba tales today at 7pm at Pioneer Hall, St. John Baptist Road, Near Barista behind Lilavati Hospital, Bandra West, Mumbai. And our brand new dastangos Rajesh Kumar and Rasika Dugal will not disappoint you. :-)

Thanks and cheers

Anusha, Mahmood and Danish

Jalsa-e-Bandra aur Dastaan

2009-11-15T12:57:00.002+05:30

Well if Prithvi Platform performance gave you joy then watch two more Dastangos, Sheikh Usman and Rana P. Senger, debut today at 7 pm at the Bandra Festival at Pioneer Hall, St. John Baptist Road (Near the Barista behind Leelavati Hospital), Bandra, Mumbai. We're grateful for your support and encouragement till date but the party has just begun and surely you'd not like to miss the fun.

So, please please join us for some unabated fun. If you have an issue finding the place then buzz me on 099306 52070.

Thanks and warm regards,

Danish

New Dastangos

2009-11-11T19:11:00.002+05:30

Tomorrow, 12th November 2009, two new Dastangos make their debut

At the Prithvi Festival, Prithvi Theatre Juhu, at 8.15 pm.

Come and watch Rasika Duggal and Rajesh Kumar perform the 'Tale of Amar Ayyar and Mahtab Jadu.'

A big occasion for Dastangoi, come and support us.

Dastangoi at Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur on Oct 12, 2008

2009-11-05T13:07:00.002+05:30

This clipping is from our performance at Jaipur last year and was uploaded on You Tube by a certain Mr. D.P. Agrawal. Further, we have a performance at 6:30 pm on Nov 08, 2009 at the Dastakar Nature Bazaar at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA), Dr. Rajendra Prasad Marg (Near India Gate), New Delhi. Please feel free to join us there. There are few more performances lined up in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai in Nov and Dec. We'll keep you posted about the same.

Thanks and best regards,

DH

Dastangoi lecture demonstration for Delhi University Hindi Department

2009-10-16T20:40:00.002+05:30

Here is a report and an audio stream for the lecture demonstration we held for the post graduate Hindi students at Delhi University. I am very grateful to Apoorvanand Saheb for bringing Dastangoi to a class room, where it should have been long since. It is also fitting in a way that it should be a Hindi department that should organise the first event of its kind.

One of the most thrilling and validating moments for me was when one of the students from Ghazipur, Rahi Masoom Raza and Danish' terrain, remarked that he found many similarities between our presentation and what he had seen of LORIK, a form of local song based-storytelling, performers in his village. We are on the right lines it seems...

Also I am very excited about the new Dastangos whom we hope to see in action next month.

दास्तानगोई पर कल महमूद फारुकी और दानिश का दूसरा दिन

दीवान के साथियों

हिन्दी विभाग दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय की पहल पर दास्तानगोई के फनकार और जानकार

महमूद फारुकी और दानिश को दो दिनों के लिए( अक्टू 15 और 16) को आमंत्रित किया गया है।

आज पहले दिन उन्होंने दास्तानगोई की परंपरा,ऐतिहासिक संदर्भ,विकास और फिर धीरे-धीरे इसके गायब होते

चले जाने की विस्तार से चर्चा की। उन्होंने बताया कि एक समय महीनों चलनेवाली इस दास्तानगोई को लोग बार-बार सुना

करते,लोग इसे समझते थे और आनंद लिया करते लेकिन आज है कि इस ओर किसी का बहुत ध्यान नहीं जाता। लोग

भूलते चले जा रहे हैं।..

साथियों लगभग ढाई घंटे तक चलनेवाली इस चर्चा के दौरान हमने कच्चा-पक्का जो कुछ भी अपने लैपटॉप पर नोट किया उसे

आपके सामने रख दे रहा हूं। इसमें संभव है कि वर्तनी संबंधी कई अशुद्धियां हों। इसकी बड़ी वजह है एक तो कि मुझे उर्दू की बिल्कुल

भी जानकारी नहीं है और दूसरा कि जल्दी-जल्दी टाइप करने के चक्कर में कई शब्द गलत टाइप हो गए हैं। मैंने उन्हें बोलने के दौरान ही नोट किया है।

आपको ज्यादा असुविधा न हो इसके लिए मैं इसका ऑडियो वर्जन भी डाल दे रहा हूं। आप सुनकर भी इसका आनंद ले सकते हैं। कल 11 बजे इस संबंध

में आगे की बात होगी।.

स्थान- हिन्दी विभाग,कमरा सं- 15

फैकल्टी ऑफ आर्ट्स, दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय

संपर्क- 9811853307

सेमिनार के दौरान महमूद फारुकी के कथन

15 अक्टूबर, हिन्दी विभाग दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय,दिल्ली

किसी ने सुना है दास्तानगोई के बारे में,इस कथन से अपनी बात की शुरुआत। दास्तान लंबी कहानियां होती हैं,ऐसी कहानियां जो महीनों चलती थी। जो इसे सुनाता साथ में अपनी दास्तान भी गढ़ता जाता था। वो जुबान पर ही दास्तान बनाता जाता था। ये उस समय की बात है जब हमारी संस्कृति मौखिक थी। हमारे शास्त्र जुबानी चलती थी,किताबें याद रखते थे।

रज्म,बज्म,तिलिस्म,अय्यारी ये चार चीजें जरुरी होती हैं इसमें। नायक हमेशा तिलिस्म को तोड़ने की कोशिश करता है अपने अय्यार के साथ। ये मोटी-मोटी बातें हैं।

दास्तानगो बात से बात बनाता जाता था। राजस्थान में एक परंपरा है बातपोशी,बस बात से बात बनाने की परंपरा। कोई थीम नहीं बस,जुबान से बात बनती चली जाती है।

तिलिस्म का बयान-

अफराशियाब(जादूगर का बादशाह) का वर्णन,रायमिंग प्रोज का इस्तेमाल किया जाता है जिससे कि याद करने में आसानी हो। 1880-90 में ये सबसे ज्यादा उठान पर थी।प्रिंट के आने पर इसे छापने की कोशिशें की गयी। 46 जिल्दों तक छपा,इतनी बड़ी कोई स्टोरीहिन्दुस्तान में नहीं लिखी गयी। लोगों ने इसे सिर्फ जादुई दास्तान के तौर पर आलोचना की गयी,उन्होंने फिक्शन के फार्म के तौर पर नॉवेल को अपनाने की बात की। यही कारण है कि ये फार्म 1930 तक आते-आते लुप्त होती चली गयी। फिल्मों के कारण लोग बताते हैं कि ये लुप्त हो गया लेकिन ये कोई मजबूत बहाना नहीं है। लोग सिर्फ भक्ति भावना से नहीं सुनता बल्कि उसके भीतर के आर्ट और शब्दों के इस्तेमाल की वजह से सुनता है। हमारे यहां ये माना गया कि चीजें बद से बदतर की ओर बढञती जा रही है लेकिन होता ये है कि हम बद से बेहतर की तफ बढ़ते हैं। नाकीश बनाता है दास्तानगो अपने आप को। एक बात ऑथऱशिप को लेकर,रचयिता को लेकर। रचना किसकी मिल्कियत है।

हमारे यहां लिख दिया जाता और नीचे नाम लिख दिया जाता-कबीर।. दोनो परंपरा एक पुरानी चीजें खोजकर ये कहने की अब हम इसे समझ रहे हैं औऱ एक नाम डाल देने की।

एक और उदाहरण अय्यार को लेकर -

अय्यार जादूगर के खेमों में घुस जाते थे। कैसे? इतना बड़ा जादूगर है तो फिर अय्यार को आता देख नहीं पाता। हमारे देश की जनता को तमाशे में बहुत ही ज्यादा दलचस्पी है। तमाशा देखने का जो जौहर है वो हमें हर जगह दिखाई देता है। ये हमारा पॉलिटिकल कल्चर है,ये दंगों में भी होता है,वो दंगा करने नहीं जाते बल्कि वो देखने जाते हैं।

........ मुहावरे से ही बात बनती है। बातों-बातों में,बात बिगड़ना आदि। एक लब्ज जो है वो कई मुहावरे को नज्म देती है।

1शब्दों से बढ़कर अर्थ निकालने की कोशिश। गालियों और शायरियों में इसका बहुत ही अधिक प्रयोग होता है।

2. हर मुहावरा जो है एक एट्टीट्यूड है जीवन के प्रति भा

षा के प्रति। हर मुहावरे का नुकसान एक वर्ल्ड व्यू का नु नुकसान है। मुहावरे को बरतना ही जुबान का खेल है।

कहने को तो गप्प है ये दास्तानगोई है लेकिन इसमें सबकुछ आ जाता है।

एक और अमर अय्यार का उदाहरण

लेखक किसी के दिल के अंदर झांकता नहीं बल्कि उसके मन में ख्याल आया। यहां मन का भेद जानने वाली बात नहीं। उसके अंदर बैठकर सबकुछ जाने लें ऐसी बात नहीं। ये अब के लेखकोंवाली बात नहीं।

दास्तानगोई को लेकर एक ब्रीफ

दास्तान-ए-अमीर हमजा जो दास्तान हम सुनाते हैं। नवीं-दसवीं सदी तक आते-आते सुनाई जाने लगी अरबी फारसी में। 14-15 शताब्दी में भारत में भी शुरु हो गया। अकबर के जमाने में ये बहुत पॉपुलर हो गया। बादशाह ने तो इसे लेकर एक बड़ा प्रोजेक्ट लिया। तस्वीरें बनायी जाती और उस पर काहनियां लिखी जाती। उस समय भी फारसी में ही सुनाई जाती । 1200 में अब केवल 800 तस्वीरें मौजूद हैं। बाद में 18 वीं में उर्दू में सुनाई जाने लगी। जामा मस्जिद की सीढियों में,चौक पर,महलों में भी सुनाई जाने लगी कॉफी हाउसों में भी।

दास्ताने लंबी होती है,किस्सा जल्दी खत्म होती है। प्रिंट में आने के बाद फोर्ट बिवियम से वही एक जिल्द में छपी। लखनउ में रामपुर में दिल्ली में इतनी फैली कि एक जिल्द की दास्तान 46 जिल्दों में बदल गयी। गालिब को बहतु पसंद थी ये दास्तानगोई। 1870-80 तक आते-आते..मुंशी नवलकिशोर की चर्चा की. ये नवलकिशोर प्रेस अपने आप में बहुत महत्वपूर्ण है जिसने एक ही चीजें उर्दू,फारसी,संस्कृत आदि में छापे । इसी ने 46 वॉल्यूम में छापे। इसी ने 18 वाल्यूम में चन्द्रकांता भी छापी। लेकिन इसे किस तरह से छापा बोला या लिखा ये मालूम नहीं।

दास्तानगो के साथ कितने लोग होते थे,वो हाथ खड़ी करके सुनाता था,बैठकर सुनाता था ये हमें पता नहीं। इसका फार्म मर्सिया मुहर्रम की तरह रहा होगा। कुछ डांस के जरिए पता लगा सकते हैं। बहुत ज्यादा पता नहीं। जामा मस्जिद की सीढियों पर खड़े होकर कैसे सुनाता था क्योंकि इसमें तो औरतों और शराबों को लेकर खुलेआम जिक्र है।

दास्तानगो की फैंटेसी लिमिटलेस हुआ करती थी,कितनी चीजें हम अल्फाज से खड़ी कर सकते हैं,जुबान पर कितनी कुदरत रखते। मीर आकर बली अंतिम दास्तानगो।..शहंनशाह बनते तो कमरा हिलने लगता। हमारी ऐसी आवाज नहीं है,हम मार्डन आवाज को लेकर जी रहे हैं। हमारी आवाजों में ऐसा नहीं है। कबाड़ीवालों की आवाज में जो खुश्की है वो हममें नहीं है। कई बार दास्तानगो एक्शन रुक जाता लेकिन बयान जारी रहता।..

एक उदाहरण देते हैं...

एक और उदाहरण..एक दास्तान गो का

दास्तान में कोई बूढ़ा नहीं होता,बीस-पच्चीस साल के बाद वैसा ही हो जाता है। वो फानूश,वो पर्दा...इसे कहते हैं कहानी को रोकना। जो कहानी को रोककर भी आपको बांधे रखे वही सबसे बड़ा दास्तानगो है।

क्यों जिक्र खत्म हो गया दास्तानगोई का ?

एक जमाने में हुआ करता था पारसी थिएटर।..इसके भीतर पैसे की चर्चा। लोग टिकट लगाकर क्यों जाते थे? शहरों में दस हजार लोग टिकट खरीदकर देखा करते। बहुत लंबा-चौड़ा कारोबार था। बहुत ही डेमोक्रेटिक किस्म का थिएटर हुआ करता था। कोई मुल्ला या पंडित ये नहीं कहता कि आप ये जुबान इस्तेमाल करो। दास्तान जुबानी फन था,जहां लगता कि ये अच्छी टेस्टवाले लोग हैं तो अच्छे-अच्छे अल्फाज लगाने लग जाता। जिस तरह के लोग होते उस हिसाब से भाषा का इस्तेमाल करने लग जाते।...निगाहें जादूगरों ने जहरीली बनायी थी।..

हमारे आज के तौर पर बहुत ठेठ उर्दू आती है दास्तानगोई में। बहुत कुछ ऐसा है कि हम आज भी सीख सकते हैं पहले की जो जुबान हुआ करती थी। उस जुबान में हमारे कल्चर का एक बड़ा हिस्सा हुआ करते थे। जैसे औरतों के हुस्न का बयान। उसके लिए सौ चीजें हुआ करती थी..उर्दू और संस्कृत में। अब बहुत सिम्पल हो गया है। अब हम नहीं कर सकते। एक-एक अंगों का बयान उस तरह से नहीं कर सकते। ये जो लिटररी टेस्ट बदला है उस पर अलग से चर्चा करेंगे।

एक और उदाहरण औरत के हुस्न को लेकर-

नख- शिख वर्णन,उर्दू में सरापा

हिन्दी में उदाहरण-

लाखों ने जान उस पर निसार किया..

हमारे सामने कोई कम्युनिटी नहीं है जिसे सुनाते हैं उन्हें उर्दू तक नहीं आती। ये हमारे लिए चैलेंज है। हम लतीफ नुख्ता नहीं समझ पाते हैं। जो संगीत नहीं जानते उनके बीच मो.रफी के गाए और राग दीपक में क्या फर्क आएगा। दास्तानगो पहले इस कॉन्फीडेंस से अपनी बातें कहा करते थे कि सामने वाला समझ रहा है। हम समझाने लगें तो शाम तक तो एक पेज भी नहीं पढ़ पाएंगे। इसलिए हम कुछ नहीं समझाते,पहले ही कह देते कि हम समझा नहीं सकते। आप हमारे हाव-भाव से जितना समझ सकते हैं समझिए। फिल्मों के जरिए जितना समझा है उसके जरिए समझने की कोशिश कीजिए।

एक और उदाहरण जादूगर और सांप को लेकर

तूल देना ही मजा है। तूल देना ही किस्सागो की खूबसूरती है। क्या मकान शब्द की सारी सच्चाई मकान में समा सकती है। क्या परिवार की सारी सच्चाई परिवार शब्द में सकती है। हम एक तरह की मान्यता में चलते हैं,ये रिप्रजेंटेशवन करने का दावा करता है। इसी तरह दास्तानगो पूरी जिंदगी को रिप्रजेंट करने की कोशिश करता है,दावा करता है। कला सिर्फ जीवन की सच्चाई को बताएं ये एक नजरिया है जो कि पिछले डेढ़ सालों से चला ए रहा है। हमारे यहां वर्णन करने की परंपरा है। हमारे यहां डिस्क्रीप्शन फार्मूलाइज्ड हुआ करते थे। स्पेसिफिक नहीं हुआ करते थे। एक पैटर्न बनकर हुआ करते।

यहां वही है जो एतबार किया,सुननेवाले के एतबार के बाद कहानी की हकीकत बन जाती है। ये फर्क है लिखनेवाले और कहनेवालों के बीच।..

शफशिकन बटेर का एक उदाहरण

एक और उदाहरण( दोनों उदाहरण ऑडियो के जरिए)

ऑडियो वर्जन सुनने के लिए नीचे के लिंक पर चटकाएं-

http://www.esnips.com/doc/91236565-76e2-4f41-bee3-289feb7929ae/महमूद-फारुकी-और-दानिश

Most recent article on Dastangoi

2009-10-12T20:27:00.002+05:30

This article was based on interviews conducted after a show at the Kamla Nehru College, New Delhi on 19thh August 2009. You can go to the link and read more if you like,

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/28788/RFe

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS

2009-10-04T17:35:00.002+05:30

Dear All,

A wonderful oppurtunity has come our way in form of the Prithvi Platform performances, which takes place during the Prithvi Theatre festival. We have been asked to showcase our new Dastango's. In October, when we continue with our workshop, we will also be choosing two people to perform for half hour, as part of the platform performances. The date slotted to us is the 12th of November. Who all will be ready by then?

Please watch this space for information on other festivals.

NOTICE- Dastangoi Show in Delhi

2009-09-19T11:25:00.003+05:30

Dastangoi performance today, 19th September, 2009, at Kamla Nehru College, Khel Gaon Marg, New Delhi at 4 pm.

Episodes include 'The slaying of Azlam, the Dragon by Barq Firangi Aiyyar' and Partition Dastans.

NOTICE: Dastangoi follow up workshop

2009-09-13T11:28:00.004+05:30

The follow up dastangoi workshop will be held on the 16th of September, at Prithvi House, between 4pm and 8pm.

Ibteda-The Beginning

2009-09-13T11:23:00.001+05:30

Among the various cultural legacies of India, there is one extremely rich and colorful which is the art of story-telling. All of us love a good story, but good story –tellers are hard to find. As an attempt to de-mystify story-telling, the story, legends, histrionics of the Dastangoi performance, Ibteda a workshop was held in Prithvi House on the 10th and 11th of September.

The workshop started off with Mahmood talking to the participants about the various ways there are of story –telling. There is an abundance of various forms of story –telling in our country, as none of us has actually seen a real dastango perform, drawing on parallel forms we can try and visualize what the real dastangos must have been like.

There are various ways of telling a story and there are various facets which are associated with each of these forms. The stories can be told in the form of kissagoi, which is the shorter version of a dastan, katha-vachan etc. It’s possible to sing a story aloud, it’s possible to read, but not every story is meant to be ‘performed’, as there isn’t always that element in them.

Mahmood mentioned that in Dastangoi, the story is incomplete without the visuals. The story is an extension of the story-teller who becomes a part of the drama himself. Talking about Dastangoi, the stories in Urdu weave around magic; have devilish wicked characters who are the winners of the story -the Ayyars and the poor dumb magicians and sorcerers who get outsmarted all the time. The versatility of the Ayyars is that they can take on various disguises and since they only rely on their wit and cunningness to get the better of the more powerful magicians, a variety of characters come into the picture. It’s the skill of the performer as to how beautifully he can breathe life into them and involve the listeners. Fortunately, for us these various stories are available to us in a written form, we do not need to be relying on our imagination to be weaving them. But we need more awareness among listeners and intriguing performances to take back Dastangoi to the heights it once attained.

As a part of this workshop Mahmood also talked about language influences and cultural influences of Urdu. There is hardly any Hindi film song which does not use a smattering of Urdu words and to a large extent the formulaic movies of the 70’s and 80’s drew upon the stories that were part of folklore, for the influence. For instance, we might have a prince, who only hears about the beauty of a princess and becomes enamored with her, there is the Grand Vizier Jafar(think Aladdin)/ scheming manager/ best friend and his son (usually played by Pran in oldies :D) who wants to become the king himself and is the bad element. So there are various themes- the distance between the lovers, the sadness associated with it, the bursting of flowers when lovers meet. They are literally and figuratively all drawn from the mystic stories that are part of the country’s psyche

Mahmood was attempting to try and show that the language wasn’t a show-stopper this way, the performance, the stories were enchanting enough to lead the way and you did not have to be anybody who spoke chaste Urdu to perform these stories, because people hardly speak that kind of Urdu, it was not necessary that they understood or could visualize everything that was written about in the book but what was important was to have a connection with the story, to be involved with it. Since the audience today is very different from the ones time past, the performer might gesture with his hand, emphasize words, or use voice modulation to deliver the significance of the passage, the dialogue between the characters.

The icing on the cake was the lovely Dastans that we got to see Mahmood and Danish perform. Balle Balle Danish! O Balle Balle Mahmood. The various audio and visual oratory forms that we got exposed to and the discourse that Mahmood gave on the influence of language and stories were extremely educating. It is also worth noting that Mahmood said that these stories with their various elements tell us that we are not the only ones who inhabit this world and in a way sensitize us to the things around us. Keeping this in mind would be a return to innocence for the man who is bereft of sensitivity with his technological advancements.

All of us got to perform a page which was handed to us, the participants ran wild with their imagination, voice modulations and it was lovely to see what all they could make of the story and add their own elements to keep us enthralled.

An aspect of Dastangoi also touches upon poetry, as its always with the Saqi (the wine – bearer ) that the Dastans begin with. We got exposed to a form of Urdu poetry called the Masnavi. The Masnavi is a long poem which details the description of an event, any event for that matter and it can go on and on, on and on and extend to pages.

We have got an episode each to practice and perform before the next session. It will be very interesting to see what all the participants do with it. Details of the event eagerly awaited.

Cheers for the lovely session

:-)

Stuti

Mere Actors

2009-09-05T12:26:00.002+05:30

Actors are a highly overrated form of artistes. It would be interesting to track the etymology of the changing status of actors down the centuries but the term originated with performers who enacted dramatic and narrative productions, especially in the Western stage. Over the last century, the glamour of movies brought a new sheen to the profession.

When one examines the craft a little more carefully, it emerges that actors are performers, one among many that have thrived in the medieval and modern world. Consider just the following, clowns and acrobats in circuses, stand up comics, television show presenters, quacks and hawkers at market place, beggars and mendicants, musicians, dancers of many kinds. What one finds is that many of them using their bodies, faces and voices to create a specific and particular impact at their audience. To be effective they need an affective response. This is a very cursory list of different kind of performers only in the modern era.

If you decide to go back further, you find, in India alone, Nats, Bhands, Bhagatiya, Kathavachaks, Naqqals, Qissagos and of course Dastangos. Moreover, in India dance and music are not just an integral part of narrative and performance traditions, dance and music itself is difficult to imagine without their own narratives. Therefore it is difficult to deny the fact that most musicians and almost all dancers are using tools and modes that are usually only associated with actors. However, they are often using their voices, bodies and gestures with much greater finesse and sophisitication than any mere actor could command.

What do actors have that exclusively distinguishes them from these other performers. They enunciate prose, often dramatic prose. But what is prose before a much longer, older and more vibrant tradition of poetry?

So how come actors have become so glorified and privileged among performers? And is it really such an overrated profession-at least in terms of what it achieves artistically?