A myriad of activities at this fest

The four-day long Kabir festival organized at Sangeet Natak Academi recently, concluded on a grand note. The festival kick-started with various cultural events like music, theatre and more. The first day of the festival was inaugurated with a flute recital by Ritesh, who rendered dohas of Kabir melodiously. The entire ambience reverberated with the theme and influence of the Sufi tradition of India.This was followed by a photography workshop 'Aao antarman ki selfie le lein'. The evening ended on a musical note by Nageeen Tanvir’s folk songs. The audience loved her songs like Chola Maati Ke Ram and others.
The fest also had theatre lovers waiting in a long queue to watch the much awaited play Bandish, directed by Lucknow girl Poorva Naresh on the second day of the festival. With music by Shubha Mudgal, the play left everyone spell bound. Harsh Khurana, actor and theatre artist, said, "Performing a Hindi play in a Hindi belt is always lovely. People connect with you easily. Koi bhi jumla and satire will reach the audience in a better way."
A performance by the band Yugm from Jaipur, left the audience enthralled with their foot taping folk music. Their songs like Kesariya Balam, Hamasdwani and Mat Kar Maya were a hit with the crowd. "This is our first performance in Lucknow and trust me, the vibes that we got while performing here were so amazing that we did not wanted to stop," said Rohan, the founder of the band.
Plays like Jis Lahore Nahi Dekhya and Ladies Sangeet, on the third and the concluding days, respectively, also drew in large crowds.
The age-old story telling style of Dasstangoi came alive in Dastan Khan-e-Khana, which was presented by Ankit Chaddha and Himanshu Bajpai which took the audience into the mystic sufi era. The last day concluded with the lightning of the air lamps and beautiful rendition of ghazals and songs by bureaucrat Hari Om and his wife Malvika.
— By Prachi Arya
A scene from the play Jis Lahore Nahi Dekhya (R) Joy Sengupta and Loveleen Mishra in a scene from a play (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
Deepak Kabir (R) Sarika (L) and Nidh Singh dancing during the play Ladies Sangeet (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
Poorva Naresh, Danish Hussain and Harsh Khurana (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)