Celebrating womanhood through Ismat Chugtai’s works

The first play at the ongoing The Times of India Theatre Festival was Naseeruddin Shah’s

Ismat Apa Ke Naam

. A favourite of many, this play sees Naseeruddin,

Ratna Pathak Shah

and Heeba Shah narrate three different tales of

Ismat Chugtai

through the evening. While the plays deal with serious issues, the trio ensured that their narration kept it lively and entertaining.

Naseeruddin, who addressed the packed auditorium, thanked everyone for turning up despite the rain and traffic on a Friday night. He also spoke at length about how Ismat was a social commentator on women’s issues much ahead of her time, and is still relevant today. The evening began with Heeba narrating the first tale — Chui Mui — leaving everyone spellbound with her theatrics and agility. Ratna narrated the second tale, Mughal Baccha, and the veteran actress’ sharp wit and voice modulations had everyone hooting for her.

The final story, Gharwali, narrated by Naseeruddin himself drew the most applause, with everyone going gaga over how the actor can switch between emotions and characters in a split second; it had many rooting for an encore.

Among those present at the event was politico

Roshan Baig

, who was seen enjoying the chaste

Urdu

and the theatrics on stage.