A 1950s clandestine love affair between Indian literary legends Sahir Ludhianvi and Amrita Pritam has been in the public eye since last year, after directors for screen and stage decided to dig deeper into their lives.
While Bollywood's biopic on Ludhianvi, a celebrated Urdu poet and award-winning lyricist, will have Irrfan Khan playing the lead, the stage dramatisation, which opened in Mumbai last year and comes to Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Centre this weekend under the direction of Saif Hyder Hasan, has the Bollywood actor and TV host Shekhar Suman playing the poet. The 52-year-old actor will be joined by Indian actress and writer Deepti Naval, who plays Pritam in the play Ek Mulaqaat.
To prepare for his role of the introverted Ludhianvi, Suman watched documentaries and listened to sound bites by the poet, so he could master the pure Urdu nazms (prose poems) that reflect his emotions for Pritam. He tells The National why their love story makes for good theatre.
Why does Ludhianvi’s life appeal to you?
I think the man he was and his whole approach towards life and romance is quite appealing. He was an intense shayar [poet] and he wrote some of the most beautiful poetry and lyrics for the film industry. He was different from the herd and wasn't very communicative. His romance with Amrita was an unrequited love story. Sahir never accepted her publicly and that's how it stayed. But even when they were apart, she built a career and life in Delhi and he was in Mumbai, they kept in touch. I feel like Sahir is much like the character played by Amitabh Bachchan in Kabhie Kabhie (1976).
Why would their story interest the audience?
For one, the way we have structured the play will impress the audience. We have the two legends expressing themselves through their poetry, which isn’t forthright. Only people who knew them would know they were writing for each other. The mystery in their love was very exciting. The play isn’t very long or verbose, either. Amrita had once mentioned that Sahir would sit in front of her, looking at her for hours, but wouldn’t speak. We’ve captured that intensity and used it in the recitations of his poems.
What aspect of their life are you playing on stage?
There was a time when they had gone their separate ways, but continued to keep in touch. Our play begins with Sahir appearing on the terrace of her home in Delhi one cold wintry night. She is bemused to find him there and the story continues with them talking about their past and why they couldn’t be together. There is also a twist in the end, which I cannot reveal.
The Bollywood movie in the works faced some legal trouble with Pritam’s grandchildren, who didn’t want her life to be commercialised. Did you face any such trouble?
I think the director, Saif Hyder, spoke to a few people who said it wasn’t a biopic and that it was just in a fictional space, so nobody objected. In the play, we do talk about things that happened between them, but it still is a fictional setting.
How hard was it to get the nazms and the Urdu language right?
That was the biggest challenge. As an actor, getting the emotions, stance and body language right is one thing, but mastering the language is the most important. I worked hard on the recitation, the intonations, inflections. It wasn't all that difficult because I was handed Ludhianvi's book of poems called Parchhaiyan at the age of 8 and grew up on that. So when I was approached for the play, I already knew most of the poems. I kept reading and catching up on documentaries, YouTube sound bites, which helped enormously, as well. I visited his house and his college in Ludhiana, just to get a feel of where he studied and the auditorium that has been named after him.
You’ve done it all – acting, directing, writing and hosting. Is there any unfulfilled desire as far as your career goes?
Loads of them. I feel like I have just started and know nothing. There are miles to go before I sleep. I definitely see myself directing a lot of good films.
So, is there a film on the cards?
I am actually writing a script about a love story set against the Mumbai riots of 1993. It's called Mumbai Dying and I think by September it should be ready to hit the floor.
• Ek Mulaqaat will be performed in Urdu/Hindi at Ductac – Mall of the Emirates on Friday, June 5, and Saturday, June 6, from 8pm. Tickets are priced from Dh150 and are available at www.ductac.org
aahmed@thenational.ae
