Avijit Dutt, director of Delhi-based theatre group Yatrik, gives t2 a peek into the backstory of Noor Jahan — An Empress Reveals, which comes to Calcutta later this week...

Your group Yatrik has completed 52 years and Noor Jahan is the latest production. Any special connection?

Well, it has been a wonderful journey for Yatrik as well as me. I am proud to be associated with it for the past 32 years. Noor Jahan is special because it explores why this magnificent personality is a bit of a forgotten character today. Is it because she is a woman? To understand that, you first need to know why she deserves to be remembered in the first place. This play captures history through her eyes in a very modern way.
 
What prompted you to write a play on Noor Jahan?

A friend of mine, Rekha Mohan, was working with widows in Lucknow who sustain themselves through chikankari (a type of embroidery) work of art. From her I came to know that it was Noor Jahan who had brought the art to India and how she has been one of the first in Indian history to work on women’s emancipation through handicrafts. I had known about many qualities of the Mughal empress but this side was completely new to me. That got me interested and I dug deeper and finally came up with the play script.

What other aspects of Noor Jahan’s character appeal to you? And how much of that will be reflected on stage?

This play reveals that part of Noor Jahan’s character which is not so known. She was a designer, a perfumer... her contribution to the ittar industry is huge... she was a military politician who campaigned a war against Mahabbat Khan and won it too, her face was minted on coins. She is so much, but she seems to have been vilified in history. There’s a Noor Jahan myth in the minds of the common people. After becoming the 20th wife of emperor Jehangir, she successfully ascends the ladder of political power, a world in which the very entry of women is strictly prohibited. And of course, she had her insecurities.  

Calcutta will see the fourth and fifth shows of the play. Are you excited?

I have great respect for the Calcutta audience. It is this city where Ravi Shankar had to apologise after the audience started walking out when he shifted from alaap to jhala abruptly to impress a certain Ted Kennedy from the US at his Concert for Bangladesh. The audience here is extremely interactive and they can laud you or dismiss you based on your performance, whoever big shot you might be. I love that.

 

Yatrik theatre group

• Founded in 1964 by Joy Michael, the bilingual repertory company aimed at staging regular performances of theatre, music and dance in Delhi.
• Some of the stalwarts of Indian theatre — from Ebrahim Alkazi and Alyque Padamsee to Roshan Seth, Barry John and Kulbhushan Kharbanda — have been associated with Yatrik.
• Yatrik is one of the first theatre groups in India to employ full-time staff and pay actors and directors.
• Some popular Yatrik productions are 
• Azar-ka-Khwab, I Am Not Sheikh Chilli, 9 Jakhoo Hill, Pushkin’s Last Poem, and Comedy at the End of the World. 
• Avijit Dutt is the present director of Yatrik.

 

 

What: Centre Stage Creations presents Avijit Dutt’s Noor Jahan — An Empress Reveals, in association with t2

Where: GD Birla Sabhagar

When: July 29 and 31, 6.30pm onwards

The play: Directed and written by theatre veteran Avijit Dutt, this Yatrik production explores the exciting and eventful journey of the Mughal empress from a widow with a child to a woman of substance, powerful enough to control the state apparatus and ultimately culminating in her confinement in Lahore, where she breathed her last. What is “unique” about this play is, according to the director, that we watch these events through the eyes of Noor Jahan.

Cast: Vani Vyas and Vidushi Mehra as the old and the young Noor Jahan respectively, Oroon Das as Jehangir, Priyanka Sharma as Ruqayya, Anhad as Mahabbat Khan, Avijit Dutt as a surprise character.

Language: English

Duration: 1 hour 20 minutes (no interval)

Organiser speak: “Yatrik’s Noor Jahan promises to be very exciting and I am especially glad to present a historical play at the Sabhagar that is relevant for schoolchildren as well,” said Urvi Nopany of Centre Stage Creations.

Entry: Tickets priced at Rs 2,000, Rs 1,500, Rs 1,000 and Rs 750 are available on www.bookmyshow.com and also at the venue (from 10am to 6pm). For details contact 9830015510.

Workshop: An actors’ training workshop for students will be held at GD Birla Sabhagar on July 31 from 11am to 2pm, to be conducted by Avijit Dutt and the Yatrik team. Registration fee is Rs 100. If you are a school or college student, carry your student identity card to avail special discount. For details, contact 9830015510.