Gulzar’s Matrix

actress visiting the outpost requests permission to fire his rifle,he obliges,but asks her to fire only a single shot. “Agar aap do round fire karenge to Pakistan ko lagega ki hum border cross karna chahte hein (If you fire two rounds,Pakistan will suspect us of trying to cross the border),” he tells her. The wry dialogue marks the entire play,highlighting the grimness and humour of a soldier’s life. The 91-minute-long poignant play was staged on May 12 at Delhi’s Kamani Auditorium. Watching from the audience was Gulzar himself,India’s loved lyricist-poet,on whose Urdu short story Over,the play was based.

Lakeerein is a part of a four-day theatre festival called “Mera Kuch Saman” that started on May 11 to mark Gulzar’s 75th birth anniversary. “Everyone is familiar with Gulzar’s work in Bollywood. This festival attempts to shed some light on his lesser-known literary side,” says Mumbai-playwright Salim Arif,who has organised the festival and directed the three plays staged here. Arif and Gulzar have known each other for 25 years since they worked together on the TV serial,Mirza Ghalib. A similar festival was organised in Mumbai last year.

While Lakeerein strings together three short stories written by Gulzar in the past three years,Atthanniyaan,that was staged on May 11,is a compilation of three short stories about Gulzar’s formative years in Mumbai. Today,you can watch the popular play Kharaashein (Scars),written in 2002 and based on the impact of riots on the human psyche.

Kharaashein is based on four of Gulzar’s poems and 25 short stories about riots,that include the 1993 Mumbai riots as well as the 2002 Gujarat riots. “In 2002,we were conceptualising a play on riots in India,and found sufficient material in Gulzar’s writings,” says Arif.

In Kharaashein,the stories range from a Sikh couple from Pakistan who are forced to flee their home during Partition to a mother caressing her dead child in her arms,to a man hiding from his co-passenger in a Mumbai local for the fear of getting hacked to death.

On the last day,Arif will hold a discussion with Gulzar about his works,followed by a poetry recitation by the latter.

The festival is being held at Kamani auditorium till today. Contact: 9818180422