Dubai: A satirical play, ‘Sons of Babur’, written by noted Indian author, lawyer and politician Salman Khurshid, will be shown in the UAE for the first time on October 12 at Indian High School in Dubai.
The play is part of ‘Mughal Night’ and will be staged along with the popular comedy ‘Ghalib in New Delhi’. Both plays will be staged by New Delhi-based theatre group Pierrot’s Troupe.
Khurshid said Sons of Babur is relevant to the present scenario of India and the Indian subcontinent, where minorities are “struggling with their past identities and an identity crisis”. It is an attempt to explore the meaning of nationhood, and in particular relevance to India, said Khurshid, who was on a personal visit to the UAE recently.
Meanwhile, ‘Ghalib in New Delhi’ has the great erstwhile Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib revisiting his beloved ‘Dehli’, now ironically ‘Delhi’, in 2017 to witness and relish his posthumous fame. The entire plot revolves around Ghalib striving against an omnipotent identity crisis, beginning with the occupants of his ‘Haveli’ mistaking him as Ghalib’s ‘Jinn’.
In desperate need of recognition, Ghalib decides to ‘sell’ himself. The consequent press conference turns out to be a damp squib with the journalists being more interested in post-conference snacks and juicy headlines.
Pierrot’s Troupe stages comedy plays with history and literature as their mainstay. The language of the plays is Urdu and targets mostly Indian and Pakistani audience who share a common history.
These plays are brought into the UAE by Publicist Network & Awesome Events and will be staged at Shaikh Rashid Auditorium, Indian High School, from 5pm onwards on October 12.
