What an extraordinary man. What an extraordinary life. What an extraordinary exhibition.
What an extraordinary man. What an extraordinary life. What an extraordinary exhibition. This was all I could exclaim when I emerged from the amazing exhibition titled The Theatre of E Alkazi about the great doyen of Indian theatre, the visionary who shaped the course of modern Indian theatre. The gargantuan impact he had on lives associated with theatre be it directors, actors, theatre technicians, theatre musicians, set designers et al, can only be measured when they speak about him and how he touched their lives. I can think of no single person across the arts that has a legacy so far reaching or so impactful.
His powerful productions and extraordinary vision of training theatre practitioners by “awakening their sensibilities to the multi-disciplinary nature of theatre,” bred a generation of enlightened theatre persons who continue to take his legacy forward. Marking Ebrahim Alkazi’s 90th year celebrations, this show has been curated by the highly respected theatre professionals director Amal Allana and designed by theatre designer Nissar Allana. If I had my way, I would make it mandatory for everyone in the arts —visual or plastic — to experience the show as a model of how a show should be designed and curated.
It is a show that encapsulates time and measures it in moments lived to the hilt with as much perfection as is humanly possible. The show comprises of theatre posters and news clippings both blown up manifold, theatre stills, costumes, miniature models of stage designs, film clips of the man, his early life, family. But the largest family that he has made, of artists and artistes, glitter from the walls as a galaxy of theatre, cinema and television stars who have changed how these three arts are perceived.
Needless to say Amal and Nissar Allana, as the loving daughter and wonderful son-in-law, have known the man as closely as it is possible to know another human being and the exhibition reveals as much about them as about him. They have handled the difficult subject with care and affection but even more importantly with a rare professionalism and finesse in true Alkazian fashion. Amal has herself been the director of the premier theatre institution National School of Drama, that Alkazi had founded way back in the early 60s. And Nissar gave up a roaring medical practice years ago to follow his love for theatre and his outstanding stage designs are the perfect setting for Amal’s directorial ventures. In this show too, the duo has worked in tandem to find rare archival pictures and recreate the drama. The fact is that Amal must have had a sense of historicity in-built into her from the womb and she must have accessed the archives started by her father and the first family of modern theatre must have built on it.
All this comes to the fore in this landmark show. One element of the show to have been created in true Alkazian legacy to complete perfection is the miniature models of some of the sets of his plays. Each detail of the sets has been replicated right down to the lace table cloth and carved legs of the chairs. Each stair, tree, balustrade, column — it’s all there. Since there are many of the shows that I have myself seen (helps being a relic sometimes!) it transported me to another time and place!
The reason I am going into raptures is the show is a complete mirror of the person Alkazi is. One incident that I want to share as an indication of his genius and eye for detail and quest for perfection: In the 90s, Alkazi had been invited by the NSD to stage three shows. I had gone to interview him during that period and he was ordering spears to be made for one play. Not only was the precise design drawn, its weight had been written, ditto for the swords. I asked why the emphasis on the weight After all, it was a make-believe world. What he answered has remained etched in my mind. He said: “If it is lighter than the real thing, the hand gestures will never be like the real thing. The twist of the wrist, the grip of the hand will never be truly realistic.” That is the lengths he would walk for his passion.
“Legend is something that others make you,” he had said in his characteristic wit but when one sees the sheer expanse of the work that Ebrahim Alkazi has done, one can help adding in true blue Alkazian style understatement with a little help from yourself There is so much that I still want to share about his genius but another time...
Dr Alka Raghuvanshi is an art writer, curator and artist and can be contacted on alkaraghuvanshi@yahoo.com, Alka Raghuvanshi www.alkaraghuvanshi.com http://alkaart.blogspot.com
