Danish Husain’s new biographical play pays tribute to playwright Habib Tanvir

Habib Tanvir. Pic Courtesy/Naveen Kishore

I wish to take off the cloak from this so-called civilised society," goes one of his famous utterances. And playwright Habib Tanvir was the man to just do it. Born in September 1924, he went on to establish the Naya Theatre repertory, and reinvent the idea of modern Indian theatre.

Life on stage

"I started very late, and he was already in his late '70s by then. So, whatever I could grasp from him, I was thankful for," shares Danish Husain. One of the honours, he recalls, was to play the protagonist Patangwala of Tanvir's iconic play, Agra Bazar. The play, alongside Charandas Chor, ranks highest on Tanvir's theatrical legacy. Husain notes, "The kind of robust repertory he created was incredible. He was living with the actors and creating constantly, which set him apart."

Danish Husainrehearses with the cast

Storied journeys

While he was born in Raipur, and started out in amateur theatre; it was in Bombay during the 1940s that Tanvir joined the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). The group featured names such as Sajjad Zaheer, Kaifi Azmi, Shaukat Kaifi and Balraj Sahni among others.

In a series of interviews published under the title, It Must Flow: A Life in Theatre, Tanvir shares, "There was, near the opera house (which no longer is the opera house); a beautiful theatre made in the days of British rule in which Raj Kapoor used to perform. Across the road, there was a smallish hall where the IPTA used to function every evening; and there I was acting under the direction of Balraj Sahni and Dina Pathak. We got familiar with folk forms like tamasha and lavani, bhavai - the folk songs of Gujarat." In the same book, Tanvir recalls watching The Picture of Dorian Gray at Metro cinema. The love for cinema even led him to a job as an assistant editor under Baburao Patel in Filmindia.

Danish Husain as Habib Tanvir

Tanvir would foster these city connections till the end. Veteran writer Javed Siddiqui recalls being a young theatre aspirant when the great Habib saab toured with his plays. "He would often be invited by IPTA. I remember when he skipped a felicitation event at Jhula Maidan in Andheri, and asked me to take him to Inayat Akhtar, an old friend who lived in Bhendi Bazaar. He spent the whole evening speaking about their times at Red Flag House in Khetwadi (Communist Party headquarters)," he laughs.

Recreating Habib Saab

The idea for the biographical performance began when fellow theatre artiste MK Raina approached Husain to be part of Tanvir's centenary celebrations at Kolkata Centre for Creativity. "The initial idea was to narrate a Dastan-e-Habib. However, I soon realised that his life lent itself to a theatrical presentation," he reveals.

The result is a product of meta-theatre that is akin to manifesting Samuel Beckett in Waiting for Godot. "We have Habib Saab on stage discussing his ideas, ideology and thoughts, even as his characters walk in and out of conversations," Husain points out. The repertory premiered the performance in Kolkata yesterday before the performance today.

Himani Dehlvi and Javed Siddiqui

Designer Himani Dehlvi had barely a few months to find the definitive look. "We have used the instances of what you remember him as through the details of the pipe, the beret he wore, a scarf that was his memory from Scotland and England. It is a recreation of a persona that the audience identifies," she tells us. To this end, she avoided using synthetic fabrics and sourced handwoven fabrics and material for the characters. She will also be using the familiar method to shape Husain's performance as Sahir Ludhianvi in Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shayar Hoon that follows on September 1.

For Husain, becoming Tanvir involved days of reading through interviews, articles and the biography. "I cannot tell you the amount of times someone would tell me how they worked in a play with him, and I would be surprised. The range of people he worked with and shaped is quite unbelievable," he says.

ON August 31; 6 pm and 9 pm
AT Prithvi Theatre, 20, Janki Kutir, Juhu.
LOG ON TO in.bookmyshow.com
COST Rs 500 onwards