The air inside the CD Deshmukh Auditorium at IIC, New Delhi, was thick with anticipation on Sunday evening. The launch of writer, performer and 'Peepli Live' co-director Mahmood Farooqi’s prison memoir, The Tihar Players, was anything but a conventional literary gathering. While the book offers an unsparing account of his incarceration after being charged with and subsequently acquitted of rape, its true beating heart is the story of the drama class he established behind bars.
Following opening remarks by Juggernaut Books founder Chiki Sarkar and Farooqui, the evening moved to a satirical performance by former Tihar inmates, all trained by Farooqui during their time in jail. Their act, titled Tihar Drama Class, transported the audience straight into the claustrophobic reality of a first night behind bars. The play highlighted social hierarchies of the prison system.
The emotional high of the play transitioned smoothly into an evocative reading of The Tihar Players by veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah, who then joined Farooqi and theatre director Kirti Jain for a panel discussion. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal also took the podium, delivering a poignant speech honouring the resilience captured within the book’s pages.
When asked during the panel about how his time inside the “belly of the beast” altered his fundamental worldview, Farooqi offered a candid reflection. “Prison helped me go sober, in multiple ways. The ‘nasha’, the intoxication, of autonomy vanished. The whole enterprise of art and creation is simply not as appealing in the same self-absorbed way once you’ve been inside. Being inside the belly of the beast gives you a completely different perspective on these soaring achievements.”
Injecting a touch of lighthearted narrative into the heavy discourse, Farooqui also recounted a story about filmmaker Mira Nair visiting the prison theatre group. He shared how Nair, impressed by the raw talent on display, had wanted to cast one of the inmates, Golu, in a project, specifically after seeing him star in a satirical “burkha play” where he had to play his own wife.
{{/usCountry}}Injecting a touch of lighthearted narrative into the heavy discourse, Farooqui also recounted a story about filmmaker Mira Nair visiting the prison theatre group. He shared how Nair, impressed by the raw talent on display, had wanted to cast one of the inmates, Golu, in a project, specifically after seeing him star in a satirical “burkha play” where he had to play his own wife.
{{/usCountry}}By the time the night wrapped up, the event had proven itself to be more than just a memoir launch.