Sayeed Alam is no stranger to the past, especially, the resplendence of the Moghuls. In his repertoire are plays that thrive on history — “Sons of Babur” and the Ghalib series. At Baluchi, The Lalit, the theatre director is treated to a royal cuisine, smacking of an era gone by, but its splendour intact.
Over lunch, Alam discusses his theatre, while master chef K.P Singh sends for him a culinary army of delicacies. Sipping fresh lime juice, Alam talks of mending a few flips he had made in his earlier plays, especially in the portrayal of women in his historicals.
Mending mistakes
“I want to do a play on the life and times of these women, be it Manto's or Ghalib's wife,” he says, adding his portrayal of them, especially Ghalib's wife, has not been very flattering. “In ‘Ghalib in New Delhi' I played to the gallery and persisted with what I should have avoided as I kept getting a good response,” says the writer-director candidly.
The chef, meanwhile, sends an array of Baluchi signature breads comprising gilafi kulcha and pheni parantha. Admiring the ruffles of the flavoursome pheni parantha, Alam says at one time it used to be made at home by his grandmother. On his journey into the past and building bridges to the future, he says, “I want to look at the women behind these successful men. We always romanticise and glorify what Ghalib or Manto did. But how did they treat their wives?” asks Alam. “I am an avid student of history,” he says as achari paneer tikka, mutton chapli kabab, gucchi kabab and seekh kabab come to the table.
Alam leans heavily on his academic instincts for his theatre work. “I have been surviving in theatre without any godfathers,” he says. “I don't hang around Mandi House where every person acts like Amitabh Bachchan and Naseeruddin Shah or is making a movie. I am a misfit there. I have not made many friends in theatre and I am very successful because of my academic background. It is a case of bread and butter for me and I am either rehearsing or marketing my plays or reading or playing with my kids,” adds Alam, the theatre person of the masses, enjoying his kababs.
The main course of dal makhni, Maharashtrian-style chicken and lamb gravy accompanies laccha parantha. Alam, whose Pierrots' Troupe has to its credit long-running comedies like “Big B” and “Cut, Cut, Cut”, says he tried to bring in change with his original plays.
“My plays sort of represent change. When I came from Aligarh, I saw there was intellectual bankruptcy here. People were either adapting English plays to Hindi or the same Hindi plays were being performed repeatedly. I decided to do original plays; so many things are happening around us.”
As paan biryani comes along, a surprised Alam says, “This is entirely new to me,” about the innovative biryani. “I don't like to cook, but we all like to eat,” he adds and talks of the gentle touches in productions, some relating to food, that gives a play the right feel.
“The Ghalib plays were about portraying a culture. In ‘Ghalib ke Khat' I used a ‘paandaan' — whenever people went out, they carried one with them. I trained my actors in the culture of using them, of first offering it to others and then having one from it. These come from the unconscious observations one makes,” says Alam.
The director opts for sugar-free rasgulla as dessert, and talks of wanting to do a play on the history of food. “It will be a solo performance, a monologue on the history, humour and culture behind it and will also touch upon the lives of the chefs. It will be an anecdotal play.”
