The auditorium witnessed a packed audience from all corners of the City. Dastangoi, an ancient form of narrative was present in the times of Mirza Ghalib and died down over a period of time. It’s a form of story-telling which has been practiced by experts for over centuries. The stories usually revolve around themes like war, magic, deception, love and adventure. The first half of the play was presented by Sheikh Usman and Rana Pratap, two Bombay-based actors. The two put up an amazing performance high on humour, and displayed their skillful selves that left the audience spell bound.
Afrasiab Jadugar, the creator of Talism-e-hosruba, a land of magic, is fed up of the Aiyyars. The Aiyyars are not adept at magic but are great at deceit and changing forms. To get rid of Amar Hamza, Afrasiab appoints Azhar and gives him a magic portrait that can recognise an Aiyyar in any form.
The first story was a comical rendition of Azhar’s attempt at capturing Aiyyars and failing in the end. The most comical part of the story was the end where Azhar’s head splits into a million pieces and out comes a sad bird declaring his death to the world and then flying off to a disappointed Afrasiab to announce his rather ugly creation’s end.
In the second half, Mahmood Farooqui and Murtaza Danish Husain presented their erudite selves while narrating the story.
The whole story revolved around illusions and how they actually become a part of reality. The story began with an angry Afrasiab appointing Muzzafir, the jadugar’s grandson to destroy the Aiyyars. The haughty and egoistic Muzzafir sets out alone to teach the Aiyyars a lesson. However, he is stopped by the goddess of spring and Mahrukh, two gorgeous jadugarnis, who are responsible for making him fall madly in love with a doll, not once but three times.
The piece sent the audience into peals of laughter and was truly entertaining. The language played a major role in entertaining the audience and keeping them in rapt attention.
Usha, who was present at the performance, said, “I loved it. It was simply brilliant. The body language, expressions and voice modulation were the most interesting part of the narrative.”
Said Emily, a professional, “I think it was completely different from the other plays. It was very well-organised and the acting was simply superb.”
The narrative painted a picture so beautiful that the audience transcended into a day and age where the line between fantasy and reality merged.