Tag Archives: Safdar Hashmi

International Women’s Day: Women of Bilal Bagh to take to the stage

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Karnataka (under research project), , , , , ,

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The cast rehearsing for the play, which is to be staged on March 8 in Bengaluru.   | Photo Credit: HandOut EMail

They are part of the cast of Safdar Hashmi’s play Aurat staged by Theatre for Change

Safdar Hashmi’s play Aurat, a commentary on patriarchy, was first staged in 1970, but remains relevant even five decades later. On International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8, the Bengaluru-based Theatre for Change will be staging their version of Aurat.

What makes iteration of the play different is their decision to cast members from the Bilal Bagh community. Bilal Bagh in Bengaluru, and notably its women residents, made national headlines in early 2020, for their protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). It eventually came to be known as the Shaheen Bagh of the South.

Sujatha Balakrishnan, one of the directors of Aurat, said her decision to work with the women from Bilal Bagh stemmed from her firsthand experience of seeing them in action during the anti-CAA protests. “They were just amazing out there. I immediately thought I should do our next production for Women’s Day with them,” she said.

It proved to be an eye-opener for Ms. Balakrishnan. “Working with them showed me they enjoy far more freedom than many women from ‘privileged classes’,” she said. She added that the experience has only strengthened her belief that it is a lack of opportunity that holds people down. Theatre cannot be the privilege of a particular class, she said.

The usual trajectory of a girl’s life — childhood, higher education and marriage — form the premise of Aurat. “We wanted it to be a multi-lingual effort. So, each act will be performed in a different language,” she added.

The first part of the play, where a girl and her father are discussing the necessity for her to go to school, is in Tamil and has been directed by Sujatha. “Alfiya Shaikh, a 10-year-old from Bilal Bagh, is playing the daughter in the first act. I was pleasantly surprised by the way she picked up Tamil to deliver her lines, even though it is not her mother tongue,” she said.

The second act portraying a young girl’s fight to study in college is in Hindi, and is directed by Vandana Amit Dugar. The final act depicting her life as a married woman is in Kannada, and has been directed by Sachin Sreenath.

The play touches upon harassment, patriarchy, the toll of childbirth and other everyday problems of women.

Apart from Theatre for Change’s rendition of Aurat, actor Urvashi Goverdhan will be reading a few of Maya Angelou’s poems. This will be followed by school children from different sections of Bengaluru reciting from an anthology of Safdar Hashmi’s work Duniya Sab Ke, which deals with social justice.

(Venue: Lahe Lahe, HAL 2nd Stage, Bengaluru from 6-8 p.m. on March 8. Entry free)

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Ruth Dhanraj / March 02nd, 2021

History being replaced by mythology: Naseeruddin Shah

Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Community Involvement / Social Issues, , , , , , ,

NEW DELHI :

Actor Naseeruddin Shah releasing the book Halla Bol: Safdar Hashmi Savu Mattu Baduku.   | Photo Credit: Handout E Mail

Actors and authors call for solidarity with activist and intellectuals

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah called for people to fight for their right to democratic dissent, which, he said, is increasingly being interpreted as sedition at a time when history is being replaced by mythology. He was speaking at the virtual release of Halla Bol: Safdar Hashmi Savu Mattu Baduku, a Kannada translation of Sudhanva Deshpande’s book on the playwright and director Safdar Hashmi. The book has been translated to Kannada by M.G. Venkatesh.

Safdar Hashmi was fatally injured in an attack on the theatre group when Halla Bol, a street play on exploitation and rights of factory workers, was being performed near Delhi in January 1989.

At the book launch, Mr. Shah said that the life, achievements and murder of Safdar Hashmi was a testimony as to why fascist powers and forces were so terrified about the lives of activists and intellectuals, who are being hounded in the country today. “It is high time we stand in solidarity with jailed activists and intellectuals like Varavara Rao and Anand Teltumbde,” he said.

“When I read the English and Hindi versions of Halla Bol, I was informed, amused, raged, disturbed and moved. He [Safdar Hashmi] took plays to factories, schools and streets, and informed people about their exploitation and rights. It is from his life I realised that even an actor’s life can be of use and impactful,” he added.

M.G. Venkatesh, translator of the book, said that the thoughts and writings of Safdar Hashmi are more relevant now than at the time he was killed. “The current regime is diluting labour laws, not only in a dangerous way but also in a way that insults labourers,” he added.

Author Sudhanva Deshpande spoke about the assassination of editor-activist Gauri Lankesh. “The killing of Hashmi stirred the need for the defence of freedom of art and expression,” he said.

Actor Achyuth Kumar said that the times had not changed much. “Hashmi was killed when the Congress was in power, and Gauri Lankesh was killed by the fundamental right wing. This is the way ruling dispensations suppress the voices of people. They just kill them,” he said.

Writer Bolwar Mahammad Kunhi said that we are fighting two types of viruses now. “It is said that a vaccine for COVID-19 will be available in the future. But who will and how can a vaccine be invented for those who suppress dissent, spread hatred and eulogise killings and violence?”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Reporter / October 31st, 2020