[Reader-list] Pierrot’s Troupe Presents – Salman Khurshid’s SONS OF BABUR -(Hindustani), October 9 (Sun) 7 PM, SHRI RAM CENTRE,New Delhi

[rohitrellan at aol.in]

Pierrot’s Troupe Presents – Salman Khurshid’s SONS OF BABUR -(Hindustani)


                           October 9 (Sun) 7 PM, SHRI RAM CENTRE, 4, Safdar Hashmi Marg New Delhi  
Script:Salman Khurshid &  Ather Farouqui 
Direction: Dr  M  Sayeed Alam; 
Duration —1:45hrs


 About thePlaywrights:
Salman Khurshid (b 1953) read for B.A. (Hons)English at St Stephen’s College, Delhi University and Law at St Edmund Hall,Oxford . He then taught law at Trinity College, Oxford. A renowned legalthinker, a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India and one of the finesteducationists, he is known for a deep interest in several fields of humanendeavour. He was Deputy Minister of Commerce and Minister of State forExternal Affairs (1991-6). Presently, he is the Union Minister of Law and the MinorityAffairs in the Government of India. 
 
Ather Farouqui:  Ather Farouqui has a deep interest in the socio-political aspects oflanguage politics, in which field he was awarded a PhD by Jawaharlal NehruUniversity in 1995. He has also authored two books Redefining Urdu Politicsin India (2006) and Muslims and Media Images (2009), bothpublished by Oxford University Press. He has also reworked Mr Salman Khurshid’sEnglish play Sons of Babur into Hindi and Urdu, (Babur ki Aulad, Rupa& Company, 2008) with passion and as a labour of love.





Original,incisive and topical – this is what Pierrot’s playsare characterized for. So this timearound the troupe opens Salman Khurshid’s‘SONS OF BABUR’; virtually a revisitto the era and aura of the Mughols. Inaddition, Salman Khurshid, in his theatre debut, has superimposed ‘a search forIndia’, on that identity issue of ‘sons of Babur’. 
  
The playwright’s intellectual search takes him backin time to the Mughal era. The central character of the play is of course Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughalemperor, languishing in exile in far away Rangoon. 
 
In the present times, he has an ardent admirer inRudranshu Sengupta the protagonist, a university student of history. Rudranshuis so obsessed with the life of the last Mughal that he has a virtualsupernatural to experience that transports him to meet Bahadur Shah in person.From then on the play swings between fantasy and reality, past and present,logic and emotion, fact and fiction. Rudranshu is taken on a guided tour byBahadur Shah through various milestone events of the Mughal era. Theyeffortlessly slide into the world of Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahanand Aurangzeb, all seen directing the course of medieval India or Hindustan. 
 
As the play progresses, one cannot but in turn beenamoured by the benevolence of the Mughals, feel disgust at their ambition,become fearful of their cruelty and also admire their ability to unite diversepopulations into an entity called Hindustan.
 
With this is emphasized the understanding that India is a collage of cultures and nothingremains alien here, including foreigners who make this land their home; afterall home is where the heart is.


 Tickets: Rs. 500/-, Rs300/-,  Rs 200/- & Rs 100/-  available at SHRI RAM CENTRE from OCTOBER 7   2011 and on the day of the  show. 


For details, Tele Booking, Bulk BookingContact: 9810255291, 9810460366, 40506826, 29944635, pierrotstroupe at yahoo.com, 


Visit us at www.pierrotstheatre.com