MUSCAT — Connoisseurs of art in Muscat are eagerly waiting for Thursday as celebrity artistes Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar will take the audience through social, political and economic times off the pages of Shaukat Azmi’s memoirs about her life with her husband, the legendary poet Kaifi Azmi. The show will be staged tomorrow at Al Bandar Ballroom of Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa at 8pm.

The National Performing Arts and Events LLC (NPA Events) is organising a grand show produced by Indian Peoples Theatre Association, entitled Kaifi Aur Main. The show is based on Shaukat Azmi’s Urdu book Yaad Ki Rehguzar. The couple’s celebrated daughter and son-in-law — Shabana Azmi and writer Javed Akhtar — are bringing excerpts from this work adapted to stage, Kaifi Aur Main.

Thanks to Javed Akhtar and Shabana, the flame of Urdu is still aglow in the cultural milieu of India. They have been doing this against all odds. In Kaifi aur Main they present the saga of the life of Kaifi and his beloved wife Shaukat through docu-drama and music.

Kaifi was no ordinary poet and above all was an extraordinary man who embarked upon a journey full of challenges and tribulations. Born into a conservative Muslim middle-level zamindar family, Kaifi realised his potential as soon as he entered adulthood. The exploitative system on which the zamindari (feudalism) was based forced him to rebel against it. His parents sent him to a madressah (Islamic seminary) in Lucknow where he was given lessons in theology. Kaifi’s ever-questioning and thinking mind soon saw himself organising a strike in the institution only to be summarily expelled.

Next he fell into the lap of the Progressive Writers’ Association (PWA) which had such luminaries as Sajjad Zaheer, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Krishan Chander, Sibte Hasan, Sardar Jafri, Majaz and a host of others. Kaifi who started composing ghazals at the tender age of 11, joined the Communist Party of India when he was 19 and remained a steadfast and committed member of the party till his death. He was an activist throughout his life fighting for the cause of the downtrodden and exploited and worked passionately to redress social injustices.

From Lucknow, Kaifi moved on to Mumbai, living in a commune which afforded just the bare essentials for a living. But nothing could deter Kaifi from pursuing his commitments. The saga of such a revolutionary’s life has been very authentically and creatively encapsulated in the stage presentation, Kaifi aur Main by the famous script writer, lyricist and Kaifi’s son-in-law, Javed Akhtar.

The focus of the play is Kaifi’s wife Shaukat who stood by him through thick and thin for 55 years and recorded each incident in her autobiography Yaad Ki Rehguzar (Down Memory Lane). Excerpts have been taken from the autobiography and Kaifi’s interviews, writings and letters and have exquisitely been rendered into Kaifi’s ghazals, nazms and film lyrics. Javed reads Kaifi’s part and Shabana her mother’s.

Jaswinder Singh, the young vocalist, embellishes it with the music part ably composed by Kuldip Singh. The impact of this potpourri on the audience is immense. Ramesh Talwar, the director has paid a heartfelt homage to Kaifi, the president of Indian People Theatre’s Association.

While delineating the life and times of Kaifi and Shaukat, Javed and Shabana have not forgotten to recall the lighter moments of their lives. Of particular interest are the scenes of the duo’s courtship.

The show is brought through the efforts of Ashok Suvarna who is a theatre person himself, who had his early debut with Art Front and Yavanika Theatre in Mumbai. In Muscat too he has had several appearances in the Asian Theatre Group which no longer exists.

Now Ashok quenches his thirst for theatre by getting good theatre from India. In the last few years he has treated Muscat audiences to very high-quality theatre. He brought Ghalib Nama, Dear Liar, Massage, Shatranj ke Mohre, and Sheeshon Ka Masiha.

Ashok’s preference for shows in Urdu can be understood by the fact that Mumbai theatre and IPTA were dominated by Urdu-wallahs since the early 50’s. Kaifi Azmi, Shaukat Kaifi, Balraj Sahni, A.K. Hangal, Shama Zaidi, and a host of other actors, writers, directors were drawn from Urdu. But Ashok values good theatre irrespective of his bias for Urdu.

His event company always does justice to the artistes who comes to perform in Muscat as well as to the audience.