Gulzar, Shabana Azmi, Imtiaz Ali to take part in Urdu fest

Intizar Hussain and Nida Fazli, who passed away recently, were also supposed to be part of the festival.

Akhtar along with Azmi will perform the much acclaimed “Kaifi Aur Main”- the magnificent love story of Kaifi and his wife Shaukat and also share their insights during a discussion on “Filmon mein Urdu – Kal aur Aaj”.

The festival will showcase Urdu and its richness through various forms like mushaira, qawwali, dastangoi, ghazals, film screening, dance and plays.

It will feature a ‘Baitbazi’ section, which is a verbal game and a genre of Urdu poetry played by saying verses of Urdu poems.

A special highlight of the festival will be the birth centenary celebration of legendary Urdu writers Ismat Chugtai and Rajinder Singh Bedi, known as the pillars of Urdu fiction.

The birth centenary of Akhtar ul Iman, one of the pillars of modern Urdu Nazms and dialogue writer will also be celebrated.

As a special focus, there will also be a children’s corner which will have storytelling, audio installations and drawing aimed at reviving Urdu literature among children.

Another attraction at the festival will be Urdu bazaar, which is a special area dedicated to brass artefacts, a variety of ittars (fragrances) and film posters.

Jashn-e-Rekhta will see a treasure trove for the taste buds — a food festival with Awadhi, Kashmiri, Deccani, Sindhi, Banjaara, Punjabi, Mughlai delicacies including a spread of choicest street foods of Dilli. People will also get to savour Pakistani delicacies.

Also, more than 20 varieties of tea will be served at the food court.