| After Mir Baqar died in 1928, Dastangoi lied dormant, almost dead, like many other ancient art forms that disappeared into oblivion when their masters passed away. Dastangoi never met that fate. This art form found a new master, in Mahmood Farooqui. Mahmood restored and revived this lost art form of storytelling along with his filmmaker wife, Anusha Rizvi and today it has achieved its much-deserved glory and appreciation. Much credit goes to Mahmood for his adaptation and writing acumen and his skill of performing it on stage, be it solo or with his able partners. His enthralling performances have captured the imagination of connoisseurs as well as common people. |
A Rhodes scholar for history at the University of Oxford, His publications include the award-winning Besieged: Voices from Delhi 1857, Habib Tanvir: Memoirs, a translation of theatre-director Habib Tanvir's memoirs from Urdu with notes and Dastangoi - an introduction to the art of Datangoi, & A Requiem for Pakistan: The world of Intizar Husain, a personal exploration of the literary and biographical world of Intizar Husain and brief history of modern Urdu Literary Culture. Born in Gorakhpur, U.P., in 1971, Farooqui studied in a government school before receiving a scholarship to go to Doon School. It was here that he got interested in drama, which he followed up as a student of History in St. Stephen’s College by directing a few productions of Shakespeare Society. |
