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A Note on History of the AMU Drama Club since Independence

By Mohammad Sajjad 

Prof. Iftekhar Alam Khan (b. 1938) Sahab has written an Urdu drama, Pehley Aap (1969), 4th edition (2004).  I share a summary of his account here, who joined the AMU school in 1949 and contributed immensely in this sphere of campus life. He narrates:

Overcoming the trauma of Partition, the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) was being brought back to its life and vitality by the then Vice-Chancellor Dr Zakir Husain and his associates such as Prof. Nurul Hasan (1921-1993), Prof. Munis Raza, Prof. Maqbool Ahmad, Prof. Rais Ahmad, Prof. Aley Ahmad Suroor, Prof. Abdul Aleem, and Prof. Munibur Rahman. Of course, Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in the government were there as strong support to AMU!

They formed the University Cultural Committee and also Folk Song Ensemble. Among the students, Ishteyaq Mohammad Khan was in the lead. Wamiq Jaunpuri and Rahi Masoom Raza started writing for these and the Drama Club came into existence.

In Delhi, the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru convened Inter-varsity Youth Festival. From AMU, Prof. B A Khan and M A Zauqi (Director) worked on Khwaja Ahmad Abbas' drama "Atom Bomb and Ananas". Prof Iftekhar played the central character, which was hugely appreciated. This was staged in the Talkatora Stadium of Delhi. Soon Iftekhar played characters in the dramas of Md Hasan, "Inspector General" and "Rehearsal". These were later staged in Hyderabad and Nainital. 

In the next Youth Festival to be hosted in AMU, Munibur Rahman took the lead. He had learnt the art of dialogue delivery from BBC London. Iftekhar's assertion is that he would rate Munib quite equal to Al Qazi, Habib Tanvir, Monika Misra. Monika had directed Iftekhar in "Shakuntla". Munib wrote scripts as well as translations and directed for a number of plays, e.g., Urdu rendering of the English translation of a German play, "The Mask" (Naqli Chehra). Gulzar Naqvi, Iftekhar, Hakim Mehbub Alam, Irshad Saani, Nargis Naqvi, were into these.

Its staging in Talkatora earned laurels from Prime Minister Nehru who was particularly impressed with the dialogue. Prof Nurul Hasan made arrangements to give a fresh lease of life to drama in AMU by reviving the Marris Hostel Auditorium for the purpose. Munib raised a group of able students for the purpose. Khudkushi, Kaali Sherwani, Kolhu Ka Bael, kind of plays were staged. Khalid Sultan (later, producer Doordarshan) played the sole central character. 

Another drama staged was played by Ms Asha Mehra. She also played in Mumtaz Mufti's Mehmaan. Munib rendered many dramas of Shakespeare and Bernard Shaw into Urdu. One such was "Darogh e Maslehat Aamez". Tahera Chughtai (later, All India Radio) was one of the actors along with Iftekhar and Gulzar Naqvi.

Munib also rendered Antony and Cleopatra and staged it to earn accolades. Iftekhar then became Secretary, VM Hall Drama Society and he staged, Mumtaz Mufti's Chhotey Miyan. This was played by a child named Jaduu, who is now Javed Akhtar of Bollywood. 

Another English drama rendered into Urdu to be staged was, Koeley Ki Qeemat. Amina Patel (from South Africa) and Md Ahmad (from Patna) played in this. Ahmad later became advocate.

Saeeda Tonki played in this when it was staged the second time. Krishna Chander's Kitab Ka Kafan was played by Iftekhar and Sartaj Alam. 

In 1957, Begum Qudsiya Zaidi joined the "Hindustani Theatre". Here, in a series of plays in various cities, Iftekhar got in touch with Sathyu (of Garm Hawa fame). 

Besides Shakuntla, few other Sanskrit dramas to be staged in AMU, were rendered into Urdu. In 1959, Iftekhar shifted to MS University, Baroda for MA, and after that he stayed in Lucknow during 1961-1964 where he staged plays in the King George Medical College. 

Plays of Moliere (the 17th-century French playwright) were also rendered into Urdu by Munib. One such was Shah Sahab. This created a furore among the conservatives who pressed to ban the Cultural Committee of AMU. Though, the AMU could ignore their protests.

In 1964, Iftekhar came back to AMU as Lecturer. By then, the Kennedy Auditorium Complex had come up. Munib was more into teaching and research and by now least in the dramas. 

The Kennedy Auditorium Complex rekindled the Drama activities in AMU. Julius Caeser was played. Munib played Antony. Maqbool Mahmud played Caeser. Iftekhar Sahab played the role of Brutus.

This was the first play to be staged in the Kennedy Auditorium. Sharifur Rahman was the Secretary, Drama Club. 

Iftekhar was now the President of the Drama Club. He wrote a comedy drama "Pehley Aap" (on composite living in Lucknow, and later poisoned with religious strife). Munibur Rahman kept complimenting Iftekhar, and Subhadra Joshi was among the audience. She later published this drama in 1979 under the aegis of the Sampradayikta Virodhi Committee, Delhi. The Govt of India purchased its copyright for 10 years and played it in the nooks and crannies of the country. 

Iftekhar also staged Shatranj Ke Khilari, Agra Bazar, etc. Impressed with all these, Kamal Amrohi offered Iftekhar Sahab to be Asstt Director for his film, Razia Sultan. Iftekhar Sahab, however, couldn't accept the offer as he got teaching assignments abroad. 

Later, "English Drama Club" also came into existence in AMU, headed by Zahida Zaidi. Naseeruddin Shah played characters in many such dramas and earned laurels more particularly for dialogue delivery. 

Iftekhar Sahab provides many other details, particularly describes some impressive acting performed by some of the MBBS students. 

His more particular concern and appeal to the AMU is to compile and publish the Urdu scripts written by Prof. Munibur Rahman. 

Shall AMU listen?

The author is professor of history at the CAS Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. The note was first published on his Facebook profile. 

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