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| April 29, 2006 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 30, 1427 |
Naseeruddin’s play from today
LAHORE, April 28: Acclaimed Indian film and stage actor Naseeruddin Shah says he is glad to be in Pakistan along with his theatre company to stage his famous play Ismat Aapa ke Naam — a celebration of Ismat Khanum Chughtai (1915-1991).
“I’d long been wanting to come along with my theatre group and perform here,” he told a press conference on Friday.
Mr Shah had arrived along with his wife, Ratna Pathak, daughter Heeba Shah and other members of his theatre group on Thursday night. He has come here to stage the play on an invitation of a charity, the Citizens Foundation. The proceeds from the sale of tickets of play will be spent on the rehabilitation of quake survivors.
Ismat Aapa Ke Naam remains the most successful of plays staged by his company. He said he had chosen Chughtai’s stories for his plays because they were beautiful stories in which the writer appeared to be conversing with her readers.
The play will be staged at the Alhamra Arts Centre on Saturday and Sunday, and will move to Islamabad and Karachi next week.
The Indian actor, who has worked for theatre and Bollywood for over 30 years, was glad that two Indian movies — the colour version of Mughal-i-Azam and Taj Mahal — have been allowed to be screened in Pakistani theatres.
He was of the opinion that this step would help revitalise the Pakistani film industry. “It is a good step. I can understand the apprehension of Pakistan’s film-makers regarding the screening of Indian movies in Pakistan, but I believe that they wouldn’t affect your industry.”
Mr Shah, who has acted in director Shoaib Mansoor’s yet-to-be-released film Khuda Ke Liye, called for greater collaborations in this movie-making business between the two countries.
The Indian actor, who was among the pioneers of what came to be known as New Wave Cinema in the 1970s, said in response to a question that the so-called movement collapsed when the film-makers took a U-turn and began to cast “stars” in their ventures for commercial success. He said some young film-makers in India were trying their hands on “different” kind of movies these days. He said the diction used in their movies was a new trend.
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