“At a time when every effort is made to suppress Urdu language, bringing out magazines and journals in Urdu is a symbol of great ambition and perseverance. Hence they deserve to be felicitated” said, Hafiz Amjad Husain Karnataki, Chairman, Karnataka Urdu Academy while presiding over a felicitation programme organized by the academy here on June 28.
The programme was organized to felicitate the efforts of the editors of Urdu magazines and journals in Karnataka.
Zameer Pasha, secretary, Minority Welfare Department, who was the chief guest for the programme, applauded the innovative initiatives of the academy. “At a time when every other person is seen back biting one another, the initiative of the academy to honour the editors of Urdu journals is commendable” he said.
Appreciating the editors, Asjad Nawaz, resident editor, Rashtriya Sahara said, “You should continue your struggle since you are doing jihad in today’s testing times”.
Alhaaj Baba Ji was also present on the occasion. A few of the editors were also given an opportunity to share their message. The award given to the editors included a certificate, a memento, a shawl and a bouquet.
Feature-length documentary on the Wayanad tribe’s struggle for existence
A humdrum yet clear rendition of Penappattu, the ballad of the Paniyar tribe of Wayanad with its narrative on their origin and life, soaks the Paniya household in bereavement seven days after someone’s parting.
The intoner, Athali, takes no break as he calmly retells from morning, well into the brooding night, the course of his clan’s struggle for existence from the beginning. “It’s like a swirling song of the dead – the soul of their forbears rattling out their saga,” says Aneez K. Mappila, who has authored the life and death of Paniyars in a feature-length documentary, The Slave Genesis. “The tribe, as you see in the film, is deeply and inwardly spiritual.” The Paniyars believe that long ago, a feudal landlord, Ithimala Gowda, also referred to as Ithimala Pappan, had trapped them using a hand net and engaged them for labour in the fields.
“There is no paddy field, coffee or pepper plantation in Wayanad, especially those owned by settlers, that hasn’t used their labour. The practice continues to date,” says Aneez, from Kalpetta. The film, shot single-handedly over three and a half years, has a scene in which Aneez’s grandfather Moidu Haji, who has since died, narrates the story of his grandfather Pakramar, left with no other option, migrating to Wayanad in the 1860s with three of his friends. “They bought 32 acres of land from a Gowda, who also parcelled out a few Paniyars for tilling their fields. The Paniyas were paid in kind, with a portion of rice as wages,” Haji says in the film. It was his long association with the Paniya workers that prompted Aneez to make a film on their life and after-life. The film opens with a personalised childhood recollection. “I was a single-man crew and as I went about shooting, a suicide happened in the community, which led me to their pithy Penappattu.”
From a death and the superstitions surrounding it, the film takes us through various facets of the Paniya life, all punctuated with hardship, misery and tales of exploitation. “They realise they’ve been historically exploited, as we understand from the Penappattu in which the Gowda, eager to have more of their ilk, asks Paniya siblings to stay man and woman below the waist.”
Cut to modern times, scenes of the elaborate ritual following a girl attaining menarche are followed by episodes of young men getting entangled in POCSO cases, thanks to the tribe’s practice of marrying off girls young.
A graduate in English, he worked as a journalist for sometime before taking documentaries on Wayanad’s agrobiodiversity and tribal food security.
The Slave Genesis was produced with support from DOCEDGE-Bang, crowdfunding from the Kalpetta Film Fraternity and his own Canopy Black production.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by S. Anandan / Kochi – December 28th, 2017
In the year of 1987, Begum Zaffar Ali, the first woman matriculate of Kashmir was awarded a Padma Shri for her extraordinary perseverance in being a women’s liberation activist and working towards empowering women through education. Brought up in a conservative setting where women’s movements, ideologies and bodies were controlled by the patriarch of the family, the perseverance towards creating awareness regarding education was certainly extraordinary.
Early years
Born in 1900, Begum Zaffar Ali was an educationist, women’s liberation activist and a social worker. She was also a legislator. Her maiden name was Syyeda Fatima Hussain, she was the daughter of Khan Bahadur Aga Syed Hussain the first matriculate of Kashmir, later Governor, Judge of the First High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, and Home and Judicial Minister during Maharaja Rule. Her mother Syyeda Sakina Sadaat belonged to a Sayyid family of Sabzevar Iran, which was an affluent business family in Kashmir.
Even though the place was largely conservative and Purdahwas considered an essential part of a woman’s life, her parents were mostly supportive of her natural inclination towards academics and encouraged her in her quest to be more informed and performing well in studies.
She had a Christian governess from Europe to familiarise her with formal education and there was also a separate tutor to teach Begum Zaffar Ali and her siblings religion. She was taught housekeeping, home science training, health education, society, family and childcare by her home governess.
Marriage and involvement with activism
She was married to her cousin – Agha Zaffar Ali and had three children. She managed to spare sufficient time for her education. Her husband was supportive of her endeavour and actively encouraged her to pursue academics and challenge herself.
In 1925, she was invited to join as a teacher at the girls’ school run by Miss Mallinson and Miss Bose in Fateh Kadal area of Srinagar. Despite her initial reluctance, she decided to join and started taking classes along with her children from their home tutor.
It was during this period she started her participation in social movements, and at a personal capacity started looking out for the girls she was teaching in schools. She taught them to maintain personal hygiene and inculcated good habits and etiquettes in them. Begum Zaffar Ali was not subtle about her love for education and she was suggested by the home tutor to take the matriculation exam.
Initially, she was hesitant as no woman in the Valley had passed the matriculation before, but putting her initial hesitation aside and giving precedence to her love for education, she decided to appear for the examination in 1930. She successfully passed in the second division in the exam and was celebrated for breaking the glass ceiling.
Since she was the first Kashmiri woman to achieve this feat, she was awarded a gold medal for the same.
Social Activism
She completed her graduation in 1938, immediately after which she started pursuing her post-graduation. As a credit to her qualifications, she served as Head Mistress for several different schools in the Valley. A staunch believer in women’s rights, Begum Zaffar Ali literally went door to door to raise awareness regarding girls’ education in the Valley and persevered to empower them through education. Shortly after, she was also appointed as Inspector of Schools in Kashmir, rewarding the passion she displayed as an educationist.
Begum Zaffar Ali was a fine orator, and would often indulge in public speaking to create awareness for the cause she backed. She would speak at several public events and in schools and inspired adulation among girls in the Valley for the very same reason. Her strong presence in public life and consciousness of Kashmir was further strengthened by the Teachers Club.
Teachers Club organised events and public gatherings, and Begum Zaffar Ali was instrumental in laying the foundation for it. She was a key member along with Tara Devi, the Maharani of Kashmir. The purpose of the club centred around discussion of women’s issues and their rights and she was actively involved in the conversation regarding women’s movement in India. She was the general secretary of the Ladies Club. Pre-Independence, she was also the secretary of All India Women’s Conference .
She later left the conference after a chance meeting with Muhammad Jinnah and his sister Fatima Jinnah, she directed her efforts towards the emancipation of women and their liberation.
She held several posts in the Department of Education and served in various capacities. She served as principal in several schools, she served as an education officer, she served as chief education officer as well as the chief inspector in schools of Kashmir.
As a chief inspector, she also introduced mid-day meals in school. Before her retirement, she was also appointed as the Deputy Director Education Kashmir for her relentlessness in the matter of empowerment through education. She was also a member of the Social Welfare Advisory Board, Jammu and Kashmir.
Later years
Begum Zaffar Ali also established a technical training centre for women of limited means in the Valley, in the capacity of Deputy Chairman of the advisory board. Between 1977-82, she also became a member of the Legislative Assembly and tried to bring out various reforms for education and women’s emancipation along with other social issues. The policies she endorsed were by and large progressive and directed towards the upliftment of women.
In 1987, she was the recipient of Padma Shri, India’s highest civilian award for her social work and her perseverance in working for women’s liberation and education. However, later in a televised protest in Doordarshan, she returned the award citing the then Government’s harsh and unfair policies as a reason.
Image Credit: Academy of American Poets
Death
Begum Zafar Ali died in 1999 at the age of 99 at the residence of her son Agha Shaukat Ali in the United States of America. Her grandson Agha Shahid Ali an award-winning Kashmiri-American poet, wrote a poem in memory of her which was included in the collection The Veiled Suite : The Collected Poem .
source: http://www.feminisminindia.com / Feminism In India.com / Home> History / by Shruti Janardhanan / November 14th, 2017
Not far from Gali Mir Qasim Jan, where Ghalib’s haveli is situated, is Sharif Manzil. Here the descendants of the famous hakim Sharif Khan live in comfort. Among the hakims of Sharif Manzil were such physicians as Mahmud Khan and his sons, of whom Hakim Ajmal Khan (in sketch) became almost a legend in his lifetime. It was he who established the Hindustani Dawakhana nearby and also the Tibbia College in Karol Bagh.
At Sharif Manzil, which had dropped the suffix haveli, came rajas and maharajas and even government officials, besides ordinary people to seek medical advice from Ajmal Khan and his two elder brothers. During the “Mutiny” of 1857, the Manzil was guarded by the troops of the Maharaja of Patiala, who patronised the hakims. Ghalib too escaped arrest and destruction of his haveli because the hakims sent some of the Patiala soldiers to guard it. When Ghalib’s younger brother died and a sort of curfew order was in force in the troubled city it was under the protection of these troopers that the dead body was taken for burial.
Lala Chunna Mal’s haveli in Chandni Chowk is a 120-room building with shops below it. The haveli is partly occupied by his descendants, while the others have locked their rooms and gone to stay in modern bungalows in the posh areas of New Delhi. Chunna Mal, who belonged to the Khatri community, was an influential banker of the Mughals and a friend of the Sharif Manzil hakims, but after the “Mutiny” he came into the good books of the British, who allowed him (on payment) to take control of some Mehrauli palaces and Fatehpuri Masjid, which was given back to the Muslims only in 1877, otherwise it was closed to the namazis.
Skinner’s haveli in Kashmere Gate area is now a ruin of its former self and occupied by transporters. It was at this haveli that Col Skinner used to hold his lavish parties in which the main attraction was his friend and British Resident at the Mughal court, William Frazer. The Christmas, New Year and Easter get-togethers here have passed into legend.
The havelis of Mirza Jahangir and fellow-royal Mirza Babar in Nizamuddin were magnificent buildings during the last days of the Mughals and still retain some of their old grandeur.
source: http://www.thestatesman.com / The Statesman / Home> Features / Statesman News Service / December 17th, 2017
Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali surprised the Telangana Legislative Assembly by speaking in Telugu. On the question raised by Congress MLA T Sudhakar during question hour, regarding issue of pattadar pass book to farmers, Deputy Chief Minister read the answer in Telugu.
Members of the houses patted the table in appreciation of his gesture.
Deputy Chief Minister not only read the written answer in Telugu but also gave the reply to the questions in Telugu. He was donning traditional ‘sherwani’ and ‘topi.
Siasat News
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Hyderabad> News / November 18th, 2017
Zauq and Ghalib took digs at each other through a sehra penned for a prince’s wedding and the Red Fort reverberated with this clash of titans.
The sehra, or prothalamion, (song to celebrate a wedding) is now a vanishing genre. I remember while I was growing up that almost all nikahs would have a sehra read by a relative with poetic aspirations, after the ceremony.
Though sehras are supposed to be in praise of the groom and a prayer for his wedded life, these would be witty and laudatory at the same time, usually a humorous dig at all relatives. A copy of this would then be distributed to the wedding guests.
Sehras fall into the category of nazms and have to be in meter.
The most famous sehra, of course, is the one penned by Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869) for a royal wedding, in which he took a dig at the emperor’s Ustad, Sheikh Ibrahim Zauq (1788/9-1854).
Zauq and Ghalib were contemporaries in Delhi, and their rivalry was legendary. Zauq had been given the title of Khaqani e Hind and drew a nominal salary of Rs 4 per month. The respect and position that he gained as a result was immense. It also gave him free access to the Qila e Moalla (Red Fort).
This was a constant thorn in the side of Mirza Ghalib, who felt he was better and deserved a royal position too. Thus, he never let go of any chance to score poetic points over his rival.
One such chance came at the last grand Mughal wedding, on April 2, 1852 – that of Jawan Bakht, Badshah Bahadur Shah Zafar’s son by his favourite and youngest wife Zeenat Mahal, to Nawab Shah Zamani Begum.
Begum Zeenat Mahal asked Ghalib to write a ‘sehra’ for her son’s wedding. The honour should have gone to Sheikh Ibrahim Zauq, but he was reportedly unwell.
William Dalrymple in his book The Last Mughal writes: “The marriage procession of Prince Jawan Bakht left the Lahore Gate of the Red Fort at 2 am on the hot summer night of 2 April, 1852.”
Dalrymple goes on to write that what was remembered longest and discussed most about the wedding was not so much the festivities or the feasting or the fireworks, but “the marriage odes recited by the Poet Laureate Zauq, and his rival Mirza Nausha, now more widely known by his pen-name Ghalib.”
Ghalib wrote a ‘sehra’ whose maqta (the last couplet in an Urdu ghazal which contains the poet’s pen name) was:
‘hum suKhan_fahm haiN, Ghalib ke tarafdaar nahiN
dekheN keh de koi is sehre se baRh kar sehra’
We are connoisseurs of poetry, not partial to Ghalib
Let’s see if there’s anyone who can write a better ‘sehra’
The emperor, realising that this was a dig at his mentor Zauq, is said to have been displeased with the maqta. A slight to his mentor was seen as a slight to the emperor himself. Zafar asked Zauq to write a ‘sehra’ too. Not one to let go of an opportunity, Zauq included these line.
jin ko daawa ho suKhan ka yeh sunaa do unko
dekh is taraH se kehte haiN suKhanwar sehra
Tell those who claim to be eloquent
This is how poets write a sehra
The fort reverberated with this clash of titans and it is recorded that the Crown Prince Mirza Fakhruddin (also a disciple of Mirza Zauq) exclaimed, “Ustaad ne maidan maar liya“.Dalrymple writes: “The squabble at the wedding was over a single verse in Ghalib’s sehra (or wedding oration) where he appeared – characteristically – to suggest that no one in the gathering could write a couplet as well as he…. Zafar [the king] also encouraged Zauq to reply to Ghalib’s unprovoked sally. The fine sehra that the Poet Laureate came up with ended with a couplet tossing the challenge back to Ghalib:
The person who claims poetic skills,Recite this to him and say,”Look-this is how a poet”
This round went to Zauq as the singers in attendance picked up the verse and spread it all over Shahjahanabad. By next day it was in the newspapers.”
Ghalib then wrote his celebrated qat’a-e-ma’azerat’ (letter of apology), in response to the emperor’s reaction. However, the egoistic poet left no ‘verse’ unturned in adding insult to injury, using poetry as a medium to prove his supremacy and take a dig at Zauq’s humble origins and the Emperor’s negligence of him.
The maqta of this ghazal became even more famous.
manzoor hai guzaarish-e-ahvaal-e-waaqa’aii
apna bayaan-e-Husn-e-tabii’yat nahiN mujhe
I accept the request to state the facts, To praise oneself is not a habit of mine
sau pusht se, hai pesha-e-aaba sipahgarikuchh shayari,
zari’ye-e-izzat nahiN mujhe
My forefathers have been warriors for hundred generations
By writing poetry, fame I seek not
aazaadah rau huN, aur mira maslak hai sul
H-e-kulhargiz kabhi kisi se adaawat nahiN mujhe
I am a free spirit and my conduct is always peaceful,I bear malice against no one
kya kam hai yeh sharaf ke Zafar ka Ghulaam huN
maana ke jaah-o-mansab-o-sarwat nahiN mujhe
Is the privilege not enough that I serve Zafar,
Agreed rank, position and affluence I have not
ustaad-e-shah se ho mujhe par Khaash ka Khayaal
yeh taab, yeh majaal, yeh taaqat nahiN mujhe
The thought of a row with the king’s mentor
This arrogance, this audacity, this strength I have not
jaam-e-jahaaN_numa hai shahenshaah ka zameer
saugand aur gawaah ki Haajat nahiN mujhe
The king’s conscience is all encompassing,
The need for an oath and witness I have not
sehraa likhaa gaya ze_rah-e-imtiSaal-e-amr
dekhaa ke chaarah Ghair ita’at nahiN mujhe
The sehra was written in obedience of orders,
Non compliance with that order I dare not
maqt’e meiN aa paRi hai suKhan gustaraana baat
maqsood is se qat’a-e-moHabbat nahiN mujhe
I wrote something in the maqta’ which became popular,
A reason to ending friendship I want not.
ruu-e-suKhan kisi taraf ho, tau ruu_siyaah
sauda nahiN, junooN nahiN, veHshat nahiN mujhe
If I aimed it at someone in particular then may my face beblackened,
I am neither mad, nor crazed nor so deprived of sense.
qismat buri sahii, pa tabii’yat buri nahi
Nhai shukr ki jagah, ke shikaayat nahiN mujhe
Although my luck is bad, but my habits aren’t bad,
I’m in a place of thankfulness and complain I do not.
saadiq huN apne qaul meiN Ghalib Khuda_gawaah
kehta huN sach ke jhooT ki a’adat nahiN mujhe
Always true to his word is Ghalib, as God is my witness,
I tell you the truth as lie I do not.
This is the original sehra written by Ghalib for Mirza Jawan Bakht:
Khush ho ai baKht ke hai aaj tere sar sehraabaa
Ndh shahazada Javaa.N baKht ke sar par seharaa
[baKht = luck; pun on Groom’s name]
kyaa hii is chaaNd se mukhaDe pe bhalaa lagataa hai
hai tere husn-e-dil_afroz kaa zevar sehraa
[husn-e-dil_afroz = beauty that lights up the heart]
sar pe chaDhnaa tujhe phabataa hai par ai tarf-e-kulaah
mujhko Dar hai ke na chhiine tera lambar sehraa
[phabataa = suits]
nav bhar kar hii piroye gaye honge motii
varnaa kyun laaye hain kishtii mein lagaakar sehraa
saat dariyaa ke faraaham kiye honge motii
tab banaa hogaa is andaaz kaa gaz bhar sehraa
ruKh pe dulhaa ke jo garmii se pasiinaa Tapakaa
hai rag-e-abr-e-guharabaar saraasar sehraa
ye bhii ik be’adabii thii ke qabaa se baDh jaaye
rah gayaa aan ke daaman ke baraabar sehraa
jii me.n itaraaye.N na motii ke hamii.n hai.n ik chiiz
I remember Professor Noorul Hasan when he returned after a prestigious fellowship in Manchester University, to teach us in M.A. at the North Eastern Hill University. He was teaching us Thomas Hardy’s ”Jude The Obscure” and by then we knew that he was a Hardy specialist. Prior to taking up the text he gave us an overview of 19th century English fiction, where the point and counterpoint were realism and reality. I sat enchanted, for never had I heard such concepts discussed. Moreover, our understanding of texts prior to this was only piecemeal. Professor Hasan was always viewing texts in specific literary and cultural contexts. This was something I never heard before, but our Professor had an unique style. He would explain a novelist or for that matter a poet in a cultural context. What do you think Father Time represents ? he would ask us.
Days later he took up a John Donne poem. Trying to specify metaphysical wit he said with a flourish : ” It is as if he says Q.E.D. after the poem”! Professor Hasan would use the text as a tool to highlight a writer’s virtues. Ratiocinating as I learnt slowly was an hallmark of the great Metaphysical poets. And then when seminar papers were discussed he would snap: ”What does this word mean? You are writing a paper not fiction”. Again, ”Don’t use a word, the meaning of which you are not sure”. Here was a man inching us towards perfection, or some kind at least.
I wrote an essay on Metaphysical poetry. His comments were: ”Although the essay makes some useful points about individual poems, it fails to put into perspective Metaphysical poetry in its historical and cultural matrix”. Wow, I was learning.
After my Masters I had decided that if it was going to be a Phd, it would only be under the supervision of the one and only Professor Hasan. He was kind. What do you want to work on? he asked. The poets of the 1930s was a prompt but forethought answer. He dismissed it flippantly — ” so much work on this”. ”Why not William Golding?”
And William Golding it was. ”Tradition And Modernism In The Novels Of William Golding” was the subject, peremptorily decided by the teacher. ”You see,” he explained, ”not much has been written on him, you will not have to read much. And what you say should stand”. My mind went back to school. Oh ”Lord Of The Flies”. Poor Piggy, poor Ralph. Was Simon a saint, if so then why did he die so tragically?
”Keep on writing” was Professor Hasan’s maxim, “and then I will read. But remember your first chapter will be the most crucial. It will be theoretical around which the entire thesis will revolve. Around hundred pages”. The words seemed to fade away. Hundred pages of theory. I had no idea of it. I almost gasped. The Professor was looking into oblivion.
Meeting him in his department room with the ostensible reason of discussing my work, turned out to be more than exciting. ”Do you know I was taught by Firaq Gorakhpuri. When he spoke on Wordsworth it was as if Wordsworth was peeling off the creative layers of his poetry.” Allahabad University in the sixties he averred, had some of the best teachers of English Literature, Firaq, his brother, the Bose brothers and so on. I was transported to a new world of literature and culture. ”You see those days it was an euphoria in the aftermath of the freedom movement. We debated, discussed, had talks and in the midst of it all was Firaq, two whisky bottles dangling in his sherwani”.
”The problem with teachers,” he said, “is that they do not go into the creative processes of a text, they cannot build a context out of a text”.
I learnt from Professor Hasan, the nuances of teaching and learning, the critical use of language, and the ability to question, with the context emerging from a text. ”Your chapter on ‘Darkness Visible’ you should send to ”Modern Fiction Studies”. I almost fell down from my chair. My writing in Modern Fiction Studies, arguably, one of the best journals of fiction studies in the world?! I never did. But Professor Hasan never minced words. He meant what he said. He was not vulnerable to blandishment of any kind. He knew what was quality academic writing and what was not. ”You have improved considerably Ananya” he said. I winced. ”In MA you were not good. I used to wonder, this boy speaks so well, but writes badly”. Professor Hasan could be blunt! Above all he loved humanity, in tolerance even of those who harmed him the most. RIP beloved Sir.
(A brilliant Hardy scholar Prof Hasan worked under the supervision of C.B. Cox at Manchester. Professor Hasan was also a brilliant teacher, thinker and translator. He also translated the poems of Firaq Gorakhpuri and Meena Kumari into English. Translations which were received very well.)
source: http://www.thethumbprintmag.com / The Thumb Print / Home> Columns> Culture & Society> Featured> Lifestyle / by Ananya S. Guha / August 21st, 2017
On the occasion of Eid al-Adha on Saturday, popular actress Gulfam Khan said she celebrates the festival by feeding orphans.
“Eid al Adha is an Eid of sacrifice. Though the Holy Quran does mention sacrificing an animal, I think like most of the times it has a deeper meaning. So, as far as my thoughts are concerned, I believe we are supposed to sacrifice something dear to us in the path of good,” Gulfam said in a statement.
“It can be something materialistic or even something emotionally bonding. It shows what length you will go to stand by the right… I still have to go a long way to reach that height, but as of now I try and feed orphans on this day.
“Sometimes I do it by being present over there physically and a lot of times when the orphanages or the underprivileged are in far fetched places, I see to it that the food reaches them and they can feast too like us… May Allah grant us the patience, love and wisdom to walk the right path,” she added.
Gulfan is best known for her roles in shows like “Naamkarann” and “Khwaabon Ki Zamin Par”.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> TV> News> Hindi / IANS / September 02nd, 2017
Malkibharamuni. The name may not ring a bell for many Hyderabadis. But much of the rich and varied cultural and linguistic heritage of Telugu owes to this former ruler of Telangana. For the first time, Ibrahim Qutub Shah IV, revered as Malkibharamuni in Telugu ballads and legends, gets recognition in the World Telugu Conference.
Ibrahim Qutub Shah, who patronized Telugu and issued royal decrees in the language, had endeared the people of his times by popularizing the local language through mega literacy drives. He and his successor Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah V, who founded Hyderabad and built Charminar, had a number of Telugu poets in the royal Qutub Shahi court. Ibrahim Qutub Shah was fluent in Telugu and his generosity towards Telugu language and culture was so high that he continues to live as a legendary Malkibharamuni in the world of Telugu literature and folks songs.
Malkibharamuni figures in the list of 83 personalities, who had contributed to the development of Telugu language. One of the arches to be erected in the city to welcome the delegates of the World Telugu Conference will be dedicated to him. Historian Abdul Majeed Siddiqui in his “History of Golcunda” published about eight decades ago extols the Qutub Shahi ruler saying that Ibrahim’s “lasting service in the domain of politics and culture had lent fascination to the name of the remarkable king and had made him alegendary figure in the Telugu literature. He is Malkibharam (Malkibharamuni) of legend and ballads.”
According to Siddiqi, Telugu, received encouragement and Telugu was patronized as liberally as Arabic and Persian languages. “Telugu poets and prose-writers were munificently encouraged and rewarded,” he said. Mohammad Quli is believed to have composed poems in Telugu too.
The Qutub Shah’s poetry “depicts his impressions about the life and culture of the Telugu society. It shows his sympathy with the local life and traditions,” Siddiqi adds.
In fact, the Qutub Shahis were the first non-Telugu kings, who spoke and wrote in Telugu. The language was at its golden peak during the period of Ibrahim and Mohammad Quli.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City News> Hyderabad News / by Syed Akbar / TNN / December 11th, 2017
Director Saad Khan is a known name in the world of theatre and movies. And why not? He knew that he wanted to get into filmmaking and had a clear idea about how to go about it.
As his film ‘Humble Politiciann Nograj’ is all set to release in January, Saad is all excited. In a candid chat with Tini Sara Anien, he talks about the film and more.
How did your interest in direction come about?
I belong to the age when video cassettes were popular. I used to watch at least two movies every weekend. This is when the passion for films came in. At school, I was already into theatre. I remember doing a professional play and being yelled at by my director because I was mouthing everyone’s lines. The director told me that acting is not what I should be doing and that I should probably assist him. My passion grew. I did a summer workshop with Bangalore Little Theatre and finally directed my own play.
What kept your interest alive?
My first play ‘Idle Hand’ was a big moment for me as a director. I didn’t know about the method acting or anything then. The play was about a lazy man and how one particular night, when he sleeps, his hands take over his body. I was associated with many plays after that. I always wanted to be a filmmaker. I knew that I had to make a transition and at that time I felt theatre was the right way ahead.
Is theatre a stepping stone to filmmaking?
From what I have observed in the recent past, there is no particular design for artistes. I’ve heard so many filmmakers and actors’ stories that I know that there is no set formula for it. Eventually, I realised that I didn’t want to stick to any genre. I brought the Hollywood movie ‘Scream’ on stage. I’ve also done musicals.
What was the turning point in your career?
It was when my short film ‘Another Kind of Black’ went to the Cannes Film Festival. I felt I was too cool but I soon realised I was just lucky as the concept was pretty good. That was the moment when I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to sell stories.
How is your chemistry with actor Danish Sait who plays the ‘Humble Politiciann Nograj’?
Danish used to do prank calls on air as Nograj. Slowly he and I made YouTube videos with ‘Nograj’. Once we did a live video of it from Times Square. After this, I said ‘I think we are now ready to make a film on Nograj’. We already had the title of the film since we always referred to the character as a humble politician. Danish, Maaz (Khan) and I met and wrote the story. I took a bit more time to do the screenplay. We were lucky to get Pushkar Films, Lost and Found Films and Paramvah Studios as producers.
What’s next?
We are just focussing on the movie release at the moment. There are speculations about a sequel.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> MetroLife / by Tina Sara Anien / DH News Service / December 26th, 2017
