[Reader-list] [Announcements] Film Screening at Sarai

[Mitoo Das]

*Film Screening at Sarai*

Sarai will screen two immensely interesting films on Habib Tanvir, *My 
Village Is Theatre, My Name Is Habib (Gaon Ke Naon Theatre, Mor Naon 
Habib)* and *Dancing at Eighty: Habib Tanvir's Naya Theatre* on *24th 
August 2009*, at the *Seminar Room, CSDS*.
The film screenings will start at *4:00 pm*.


*Synopsis of My Village Is Theatre, My Name Is Habib (Gaon Ke Naon 
Theatre, Mor Naon Habib)
Directors: Sudhanva Deshpande & Sanjay Maharishi. *

They crisscross the country by road and by rail, living out of suitcases 
and trunks, singing, dancing, performing. 'Naya Theatre' is a 
professional theatre company of rural actors from Chhattisgarh, founded 
in 1959. The company is led by Habib Tanvir --- actor, writer director, 
singer, poet, designer, teacher.
Through interaction with the actors in their villages, the making 
'Zahareeli Hawa', Tanvir's translation of Rahul Varma's English play on 
the Bhopal gas tragedy, and incidents such as the time when Habib Tanvir 
and the actors came under attack from the Hindu Right in 2003 for 
performing 'Ponga Pandit', the film looks at life in Naya Theatre as the 
actors tour one city after another, performing continuously.



*Synopsis of Dancing at Eighty: Habib Tanvir's Naya Theatre*
Made on the occasion of Habib Tanvir's eightieth birthday, Mahmood 
Farooqui's documentary provides a slice of life account of Naya Theatre 
at work. Made with rudimentary equipment and sometimes technically poor, 
the film parallels, in some ways, the poor infrastructural condition in 
which the theatre was produced.

The film creates two parallel streams. One part of it deals with the 
vision, aspiration and world view of Habib Tanvir which relies on 
interviews with him in a green room, at the final dress rehearsal, while 
he rehearses on an open terrace amidst jagran bhajan loudspeakers in 
Bhopal and at his house.

The second part of the film contains conversations with his actors many 
of whom have now died or have retired including the legendary singer 
Bholua Ram, Govind Ram Nirmalkar, Poonam Tiwari and Chaitram. The actors 
have a different and bittersweet understanding of their practice, of 
their journey and their own regrets.

Not aspiring to any completeness the film merely puts the conversations 
on a public platform, leaving the audience to work out their own wholeness.


Hope you will make yourself available for the event.


Mitoo Das
Programme Coordinator
Sarai, CSDS
29-Rajpur Road
Civil Lines
Delhi- 110 054
Email me at: mitoo at sarai.net
www.sarai.net

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