“There’s something in the air in this city that leaves you inspired”

Five hundred miles away from homeland at a venue that is as historic as it is breathtakingly artistic, the Van Gogh Castle in Europe, a three-round standing ovation is dizzying for any actor in the world, more so from the who’s who of world theatre. At the cast-dinner post our performance of ‘Quli: Dilon Ka Shahzaada’ by the riverside in Herisson, Hungarian musicians and French actresses walked up to my table. One of them said: “When you broke the wall between the performer and the audience from as close as their nose-point, we could see the power of your father!”

They were talking of Hyderabadi theatre legend Qadir Ali Baig sahib taking me back to a time when it all began in Hyderabad, a city which until then had very little in theatre to write home about. There’s something in the air in this city that leaves you inspired. Qutub Shahs, founders of this city, practiced arts four- and- a- half centuries ago and gave the first Urdu sahib-e-diwan poet to the country, as also the country’s first Urdu ghazal. Asaf Jahs, progressive Hyderabad’s architects, shaped our gangajamuni tehzeeb mingling the Mughal, Dakhni, Persian, and European influ ences. This kind of mélange influenced my father’s work too. When I relocated to Hyderabad in 2005, I was pained to learn that a couple local actors were performing to an audience of about 8 to 10 people. That’s when the Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation was set up to revive theatre in the city and the benchmark Festival followed the next year. It was fulfilling when at last year’s inaugural ceremony, stalwart Sai Paranjpye mentioned, “If there’s a living museum of theatre in the country, it’s the Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival”.

The festival has brought to town some of the most respected exponents of performing arts from across the world, creating a vibrancy among theatre people in the city.

I remember what my father had once said about his vision, “I want Hyderabad to be on par with any other theatre- vibrant cities of the world. People here should pick up the day’s newspaper, look at the events listings, and not be able to decide which play to watch!” Looks like we are on our way.

The author is a theatre revivalist