Ek Mulaqaat!

Last night was the night when I finally had my theatre debut (not performing but as a spectator) when I went to watch the play which had come to town with a star cast known for their acting brilliance.

‘Ek Mulaqaat’ by playwright Saif Hyder Hasan, starring Deepti Naval and Shekhar Suman as the protagonists is the unrequited love story between poet and film lyricist, Sahir Ludhianvi and the writer-poetess Amrita Pritam, the first ever Indian woman to win a Sahitya Akademi Award. The play was hosted by Coconut Events at Shilpkala Vedika Auditorium, Hyderabad. It was the play’s 49th performance and the next one is going to be the golden ‘50’. To be honest, I had no idea that the play was a real life story, adapted and some creative liberties taken to mold it as per the writer’s vision, but yet managing to keep the original emotions and feelings between the characters intact.

The play begins with Amrita knitting a sweater on the terrace of her home when we hear someone across the door call out for her and telling her that there was a trunk call for her from Bombay. The voice calling out is that of Amrita’s living-in-partner Imroze (yes, in real life they never got married) and we see a playful exchange of dialogues between the two adults.

The scene is set on a wintry night in Delhi when Sahir comes to visit Amrita. From there on, we witness unfolding of the life and the relation of the two of them through poetry and urdu shayaris with an undercurrent of pathos running throughout the play.

It’s quite clear that Amrita seems to have imbibed Sahir in herself, when she talks how she used to smoke his left over cigarette butts just to feel close to him or how she wished that the time would never end when she was rubbing ‘vicks’ on a sick Sahir and when she questions Sahir, why he never accepted her despite loving her? Not to mention that her writings had traces of Sahir all along.

Sahir on his part is equally captivated with Amrita but that an unhappy marriage between his own parents made him fear that he would perhaps not be a good enough husband for Amrita. With Amrita in Delhi and Sahir in Bombay, and in the arms of other women especially Sudha, the distance between them seem to have increased but emotionally they seem to have become more close and entangled. Otherwise why would a departed soul once leaving the body would come and pay a visit to a woman and finally feel like he has come home? Yes, the trunk call from Bombay is to inform the demise of Sahir when all this time Amrita has been talking to his soul.

Ek Mulaqaat is Deepti Naval’s first theatre performance (I was surprised when I came to know that; Somehow I presumed she was always a theatre artist). I am no critic so when I comment on the actors’ performances this it is entirely what I felt while watching the play. Deepti, being the brilliant actress that she is, looked quite frail in personality but her performance as a poet with multiple layers of emotions was precise. Her recitations of her poetries and her lines delivery were punctuated with meaningful pauses and completed with sighs and mournfulness. Shekhar Suman as Sahir is brilliant with his recital of verses in pure Urdu. He comes upon as a strong person switching from intense to funny moments with ease.

The play is definitely a must watch for people who miss the old love and the fact (which today’s youth seem to lack) that a love between two individuals can be of more than just physical intimacy. It can be of emotional and intellectual connect that transcends the physical world. That you get the person you love in the end is not important. You loved and were loved is what’s important.

I would like to end this article with one of Sahir Ludhianvi’s famous song which I personally feel suits his persona to the core.

Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon

Pal do pal meri kahani hai

Pal do pal meri hasti hai

Pal do pal meri jawani hai…..

Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon

Mujhse pahele kitne shayar

Aaye aur aakar chaley gaye

Kuch anhein barkar laut gaye

Kuch nagme gaa kar chaley gaye hai

Woh bhi ek pal ka kissa thhey

Main bhi ek pal ka kissa hoon