‘Sham-e-Adab’ in memory of Urdu writer Mirza Hadi Ruswa held in Lucknow

A seminar titled ‘Sham-e-Adab’ was held in the city recetnly, in memory of Urdu writer Mirza Hadi Ruswa, the author the book Umrao Jaan Ada. The event brought back memories of Muzaffar Ali’s movie, based on the novel. People from the literary field and film industry participated in the seminar and spoke at length about the author as well as the cinematic adaptation of his book.Filmmaker Muzzafar Ali, actor Farrukh Jafar, Sharib Rudaulvi, Ayesha Siddqui and Habib Moosvi were among the list of speakers at the seminar. The first to address the seminar was Ayesha Siddqui who beautifully described the personality of the writer and his stay in Lucknow. While the other speakers too put forth their views on the life of Mirza Hadi, actor Farrukh Jafar shared her experience of playing Umrao Jaan’s mother in the film. Jafar shared how filmmaker Muzzafar Ali introduced her to the world of films. “I met Muzzafar Ali at the premiere of his movie Gaman in Delhi. He told me about Umrao Jaan and asked if I could be a part of it. Initially, I was not convinced because in our society in those days filmein karna toh door, dekhna bhi paap tha. But then he convinced me to play Umrao Jaan’s mother. Muzzafar ne he mujhe filmi duniya ki sair karwayi,” she shared.
Meanwhile Ali shared how he was inspired to make the movie Umrao Jaan. He denied news of a sequel to the film and said he had plans to release an audio book of Umrao Jaan Ada. “The voice over in the CD is likely to be given by me and Shanay Naqvi,” informed Jafar.