A pinch of Bollywood added to the month-long cultural festival of Gurgaon

The month-long cultural coupe of plays and music performances in Gurgaon will kick-start from today and take place every Saturday evening.

Unbeknownst to most, the first superstar of Hindi film industry KL Saigal had played Sita in the Ramlila in Jammu. The singer-actor had also worked as a typewriter salesman for the Remington Typewriter Company in Delhi. And if you want to know the legend more closely, you might not want to miss the staging of the only play on his biography at the cultural festival by Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), that starts on September 3.

The month-long extravaganza, this time, offers plays and musical performances every Saturday. Besides bringing people closer to performing arts , the aim is also to highlight social issues. “Our motive is to spread awareness about social problems and promote local art and artists. We have been organising such events for the past one year and the response has been overwhelming,” says VD Tirkha, consultant (art and culture), MCG. “The cultural night is open to all without any cost involved,” adds Tirkha.

The play on Saigal, is already attracting a lot of inquires from viewers. The writer- director of the play, M Sayeed Alam, says, “KL was the first superstar of Hindi cinema. Unfortunately, he is a forgotten star.Those who consider Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi as legends are probably unaware that they all used to copy Saigal.”

Besides a play on Saigal, other stage productions are also equally interesting, such as Auraiya ke Lakshman Urff Bachchan, a play based on the films of Amitabh Bachchan. Bhavish Kukreja, from Renaisstance Theatre Group, who plays a villain in the play says, “The protagonist of the play, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, wants to become like the actor Amitabh Bachchan. He bags a role in local Ramlila and the praise that he gets for his role motivates him to dream of having a showbiz career. When he goes to Mumbai, a twist in the tale follows, and that’s what will have everyone hooked. The play is written and directed by Mohit Tripathi, who himself hails from Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh and is a fan of Bachchan.”

LINE UP

3 September- KL Saigal, play

10 September- Carnival of dreams, musical night

17 September- Auraiya ke Lakshman Urff Bachchan, play

24 September- Iqbal, patriotic play

CATCH IT LIVE

WHAT: Month-long Cultural festival

WHERE: Open Air Theatre, Sector-29, Gurgaon

TIMINGS: 7.30 pm

NEAREST METRO STATION: IFFCO Chowk on Yellow Line