Delhiites say irshad to 35 years of Mirza Ghalib
The mehfil glowed with shers and ghazals by Mirza Ghalib, in the Capital, as Lutff and Prajna Foundation celebrated 35 years of the TV serial on the poet’s life, starring Naseeruddin Shah. The stage was taken by actor Neena Gupta, who portrayed Nawab Jaan (a courtesan who would perform to Ghalib’s ghazals) on the show, playwright Danish Iqbal, and organiser Neelam Kohli.
As Gupta narrated anecdotes and behind-the-scenes moments from the ’80s show’s sets, Iqbal and Kohli discussed Ghalib’s vast body of work. The other corner of the stage witnessed singer Supriya Joshi reprising ghazals penned by Ghalib and sung and composed for the serial by ghazal couple — the late Jagjit Singh and wife Chitra Singh.
A LUMINOUS LITERARY LEGACY
The confusion and conflict juxtaposed by the pathos and pain, and of course, love, in the bard’s versification, was the topic of discussion. Iqbal, in his inimitable style, declaimed, “Ishq par zor nahin hai ye wo aatish Ghalib/Ke lagaaye na lage aur bujhaaye na bane,” eliciting “wahs” from the audience.
In a quick tête-à-tête with us, Gupta said, “It was Gulzar sa’ab’s vision... A show like this tells us that Ghalib was a real person, someone who wrote so extensively and beautifully... While I won’t want the show to be remade at all, it’s possible to make something on Ghalib any number of times.”
Joshi, who sang ghazals such as Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi, Dil Hi To Hai and Na Tha Kuchh To Khuda Tha, told us: “Thirty-five years pehle gaaya gaya tha, 200 saal pehle likha gaya tha par itne samay baad bhi, yeh ghazalein aur yeh music sunne ka mann karta hai. Toh ye shaam thi Ghalib ke naam.”