E-Paper
Poets of today to play past greats
CHAIRMAN OF UP Bhasha Sansthan and renowned Hindi poet Gopal Das Neeraj once played the role of a barbaad shayar (doomed poet) in the film Pehchaan. He acted in one more film, Jeet. After many years, on Saturday, the poet will take to acting once again?he will play the role of King Bahadur Shah Zafar.
CHAIRMAN OF UP Bhasha Sansthan and renowned Hindi poet Gopal Das Neeraj once played the role of a barbaad shayar (doomed poet) in the film Pehchaan. He acted in one more film, Jeet. After many years, on Saturday, the poet will take to acting once again—he will play the role of King Bahadur Shah Zafar.
The play titled Dilli ki Aakhri Shama is based on the last mushaira (poetic symposium) organised by the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar in Delhi before he was dethroned by the English. It would be staged at the Ganna Sansthan auditorium on Saturday evening.
That mushaira was attended by some of the greatest poets like Mirza Asadullah Khan ‘Ghalib’, ‘Zauk’, ‘Momin’, besides several other hugely popular poets of the time. In the show on Saturday, several present-day poets would be enacting the roles of their illustrious predecessors. Of course, poets are no strangers to the stage. But, usually, they ‘re-act’ poetically to the prevailing situation reciting verses that sum up their anguish, their joy and their dilemma.
In a way it would depict Neeraj’s personal victory after having fallen on the thorns of life.
“Yes, I am overcome by nostalgia. In Pehchaan, I was a barbaad shayar and now I am the king,” he said, talking to HT Lucknow Live in between the rehearsals.
But the programme would give them the chance to recite their own poems too. Sarvesh Asthana, popular hasya kavi (comic bard), says, “It would feel odd reciting someone else’s poetry for it is like committing poetic hara-kiri.
Athar Nabi, secretary of Hindi Urdu Sahitya Award Committee, would also be acting and would recite the work of none other than Ghalib. Pradeep Srivasatav is directing the play.
He says, “It’s a challenge to make the poets act. But, being poets, their dialogue delivery and style of narration is brilliant. Another point is that that a lot of poetry is in Urdu and they can use it flawlessly.”
The mushaira would also feature one of Neeraj’s songs Kaise kaise log yahan per aaye, aa ke chale gaye.
