Lucknow cultural fest celebrates cinema poetry and monsoon delights

Lucknow: With people gathering to enjoy a mix of cinema, poetry, food, and monsoon festivity, the final day of the two-day cultural fest ‘Aaya Sawan Jhoom Ke – A Sawan Celebration' drew a huge crowd at Sanatkada House on Sunday. The event was organised by Sanatkada, Bioscope, and Naimatkhana.A key highlight was the screening of ‘Mee Raqsam', a documentary film by Baba Azmi, which tells the story of a Muslim girl's struggle to pursue Bharatnatyam against societal pressures. After the screening, Baba Azmi, lead actress Aditi Subedi, and film curator Anchal Kapur interacted with the audience online and shared insights into the making of the film.The programme also featured a poetry session titled ‘Humkalaam', where RJ Tashi and Shadab Javed recited verses by legendary poets like Mirza Ghalib, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, and Mir Taqi Mir, earning warm applause from the audience.Visitors, many dressed in green and adorned with green bangles, soaked in the festive vibe while enjoying pani ke batashey, pakoras, and chai at various stalls. Girls queued up at the henna stall to get designer mehndi applied.Kashifi Raza, one of the attendees, said, "I was just passing by with my sister and saw the decoration, so we stopped. The rainy weather, chai, pakoras, and mehndi made the experience wonderful." Another visitor, Amit Mishra, shared, "I enjoyed the poetry, the vibe, and the documentary. It's mesmerising to enjoy poetry with chai-pakoras in such beautiful weather."