The relationship between poets Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhianvi has been much speculated and discussed. While Amrita was very vocal about her feelings for Sahir and freely wrote about them, Sahir himself chose to be silent. He never spoke about her either in words or in his work. Ek Mulaqaat, Saif Hyder Hasan’s new play to be staged at the GD Birla Sabhaghar in Kolkata on 2nd May is based on the lives of Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhianvi, played by Deepti Naval and Shekhar Suman.
Co-written by Summana Ahmed, Ek Mulaqaat is a play about unfulfilled love, poetry and music. It is set in Delhi on a wintry evening. The two poets converse. The woman is happy to meet the man and as they proceed in their conversation, unanswered questions are answered. The man has come with a specific purpose. But what could it be?
“Not just love. It is a play about art, music, artists and death” says Saif Hyder Hasan. A chat with the former journalist, novelist and now director.
Why did you choose the story of Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhianvi?
I’ve always wanted to write something in Urdu and when this subject came to me, I saw a lot of dramatic possibilities in the story.
Why did you decide to cast Deepti Naval and Shekhar Suman to play Amrita and Sahir?
Deepti is of course a fabulous actor and when I read the script to her, she was very excited. An added bonus was the fact that she was very close to Amrita and personally knew her. She gave a lot of inputs to how the character should walk, how she should speak etc. Deepti put me in touch with Shekhar who says that he has a mystical relationship with Sahir. Shekhar’s uncle gifted Sahir’s book Parchaiyan to him at the age of eight. He did not understand the work then but later when he started reading them again, he was mesmerized. Shekhar is an encyclopedia on Sahir Ludhianvi.
How has the audience reacted to Ek Mulaqaat?
Incredible. I did not imagine this reaction and I think it has broken the myth that people only like easy entertainment. We were apprehensive if the younger generation will connect to the play but they have loved it too and said that this is the ultimate love story even though the characters are both 50 plus.
What do you think of the Kolkata audience?
I’m in love with the Kolkata audience. I was here with my play Gardish Mein Taare sometime back and I was amazed at how knowledgeable the audience was. They were discussing technicalities like light and set. They are far more evolved than audiences in other cities.
What else do you love about Kolkata?
The food of course! Fish and mishti doi 🙂
Ek Mulaqaat stages tomorrow at the GD Birla Sabhagar Time – 6.30 pm Tickets – Available on Book My Show, at the venue and at the Forum atrium