Amrita Turns 20

It was a play that seemed doomed to fail there were no elaborate sets,no dramatic action,no music and only two actors sitting at two tables,reading out letters.

Written by Dipanita Nath

February 29, 2012 02:38 AM IST

2 min read

It was a play that seemed doomed to fail there were no elaborate sets,no dramatic action,no music and only two actors sitting at two tables,reading out letters. When technical rehearsals were held in February 1992,there were 10 people in the audience,among them Javed Akhtar,actor Shabana Azmis husband. And eight people had slept off.

Akhtar had kindly proclaimed that the play would work. But,nobody could have foreseen the packed hall at India Habitat Centre on February 26,2012,exactly 20 years after Tumhari Amrita previewed at Mumbais Prithvi Theatre. Another houseful staging was held at Bandra Fort in Mumbai on Monday. We couldnt have foreseen that the play would go on to become a cultural reference point and part of the collective memory of a generation, says director Feroz Abbas Khan.

Azmi,now synonymous with the protagonist Amrita Nigam,and Farooq Shaikh,as Amritas lover Zulfiqar Zulfi Haider,recreated once again the story of an unusual romance. For 35 years,Amrita and Zulfi write to each other,beginning as children. Amrita grows into a rebel artist,spirited yet tortured,while Zulfi turns into a proper son,husband and prominent public figure. Their paths wind away into two different directions,so how can love stand a chance? For 20 years,nothing has changed,not the dialogues,not the sets,not the actors,not even the clothes that the actors wear, says Khan.

Between the lines of beautiful Urdu dialogues are glimpses of Indias post-independence political history and a society thats breaking free in small ways. The play has been staged 350 times across India as well as toured the US,Europe,Pakistan,Bangladesh and other countries. Akhtar has been present at many of the plays subsequent stagings and as the thunderous applause at the end refuses to cease,he too joins in.

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India Habitat Centre javed akhtar shabana azmi

Amrita Turns 20

It was a play that seemed doomed to fail  there were no elaborate sets,no dramatic action,no music and only two actors sitting at two tables,reading out letters.

It was a play that seemed doomed to fail there were no elaborate sets,no dramatic action,no music and only two actors sitting at two tables,reading out letters.