Times hosts a play!

Preeti Asar (TOI Photo)As the journalist Sanjay Pande says he's glad to have met Begum Jaan, whom the world takes for dead, the octogenarian Begum quips, "Hamare jaise log kabr ke bahar mil jaaye, to khushi to honi hi chahiye."
It was a deluge of such fantastic multi-layered dialogues in Urdu that formed the cornerstone of Begum Jaan, the tragicomedy staged on Sunday evening as part of the Times Hyderabad Festival.Sanjay wants to make a scoop out of Begum Jaan's story, and the letters supposedly written to her by Maulana Azad. The plot is dominated by the journalist's machinations with the Begum and her granddaughter, the Begum's anger at the rapidly changing times, and her consistent eccentricities.
The Begum, played by Nadeera Babbar is larger-than-life in the pride and sharp wit of the singing legend alive in a frail body, though in paradox with the pathos of her financial condition and her desperation to marry her granddaughter off. Zarina's character played by Juhee Babbar seems half-baked while Anoop Soni, playing the journalist is actually more convincing.
The first half of the play, one felt, was powerful. In the satire on superficial modern values, sensationalist journalism and glimpses into Indian history, the play was moving. And as the packed audience at Shilpakala Vedika gave a standing ovation, this was easily one of the better plays to have come to the city in recent times. And they did show their appreciation loud and clear with a standing ovation.