Take the arty, cultural route this weekend

Witness a kaleidoscope of cultural events at the Hyderabad Literary Festival 2019

Mallika Sarabhai

At the ongoing Hyderabad Literary Festival 2019, witness a bouquet of interludes during the day and cultural performances each evening. The festival that’s on at Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, through January 26 and 27, is hosting stand-up comedy sessions, Sufi music performances and folk dances. Here’s what to expect:

Mrinalini Sarabhai: “HLF 2019 commemorates the birth centenary of poet Kaifi Azmi and multi-faceted danseuse Mrinalini Sarabhai. We will have film screenings and special sessions on them,” informs Amita Desai, one of HLF’s core team members.

Watch the 50-minute documentary

Mrinalini Sarabhai: The Artist and Her Art , directed by Yadavan Chandran, on January 26; 12.15p.m. The film traces her journey from her foundations in classical dance forms such as Bharatanatyam and Kathakali to using these forms to highlight issues of social concern. Later the same evening, at 5.30p.m., Mallika Sarabhai will engage the audience with lesser known facets of her mother Mrinalini’s life. The session will showcase Mrinalini Sarabhai’s novels, poems, books for children, plays and the articles she penned on craft, culture, archaeology and the environment. Mallika will read excerpts from Mrinalini’s writings, and talk about how some of them were used in Mrinalini’s dance choreographies to reach a larger audience.

Kaifi Azmi: On January 27; 3p.m., watch Yaadein , a 57-minute documentary on Kaifi Azmi commissioned and telecast by Doordarshan in 1999, directed by Amita Talwar. Post the screening, Shabana Azmi will be in conversation with Amita Desai in a session that discusses the life of Kaifi Azmi. Yaadein traces the journey of Kaifi Azmi from when he was an active member of Progressive Writers’ Movement. He then moved to Bombay from his native village Mijwan in Azamgarh district, eastern U P. Yaadein documents the poet’s initial struggles in the film industry, his ideologies, and the legacy he left behind. Reflecting on the film, Amita Talwar feels that his body of work that discusses gender equations and social concerns, continues to be relevant.

Daastangoi: “The Daastangoi storytelling session at HLF will be more than a regular performance. India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) which has been supporting art forms and archiving them, will showcase the different uses of Daastangoi storytelling,” says Amita Desai.

On January 26; 11a.m., watch a Daastangoi performance led by Kafeel Jafri in ‘Afterlife of Memories: The IFA Archive’. The session will begin with

Daastan ek Talib ki (story of a seeker), narrating the story of a boy whose quest for answers transports him to a magical world.

Sufi: Musician Kanish Seth, who produced and composed for the Sufi-electronic album Trance with Khusrow, will perform with classical singer Devashri Manohar and flautist Adwait Kashikar. On January 26; 7p.m.

Stand-up comedy: Arnav Rao, Suhas Navarathna and Suman Kumar will regale the audience on January 27; 5.30 p.m.

Delightful interlude: Those who’ve visited the earlier editions of HLF would recall brief folk performances livening up the HPS campus during the fest. On Saturday and Sunday, at 1.15p.m., watch out for the Telangana folk dance ‘Kommu Koya’.

These folk interludes are usually a colourful spectacle where the audience at first photographs or video records the proceedings and eventually joins the folk group for a jig.