Aamir Khan's film 'Lahore 1947' is ready based on the famous play 'Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamyai Nai' by writer Asghar Wajahat.
The director of this film is Rajkumar Santoshi. Sunny Deol, Shabana Azmi, Preity Zinta, Ali Fazal, Karan Deol and Abhimanyu Shekhar Singh etc. play lead roles.
Earlier the film was slated to release on 26 January 2025 in India but now it is likely to release in February 2025.
Rajkumar Santoshi wanted to make the film for almost twenty years and bought the film rights twice from its writer Asghar Wajahat.
The film was announced just a few months after Sunny Deol's 'Gadar 2' became a hit. Through this, Sunny Deol (left) is working with Rajkumar Santoshi (centre) after a long time and for the first time with Aamir Khan (right).
Earlier there was a controversy over 'Gandhi Godse-a war'. Meanwhile, Santoshi produced and screened a film titled 'Gandhi Godse – Ek Yuddha' based on another Asghar Wajahat play 'Godse@Gandhi.com' last year. There was a lot of controversy regarding this film in both right and left camps.
Sunny Deol has become Sikandar Mirza in this film In Lahore 1947, Shabana Azmi plays an elderly mother while Sunny Deol plays Sikandar Mirza, Preity Zinta plays his wife and Karan Deol plays his son.
Now a little discussion about the play on which I edited a book 'Jees Lahore… Ke Do Dashak' (Vani Publication) in 2009 in Hindi and English.
The producer and director received threats Scene 1: The Marathi version of Asghar Wajahat's play 'Jees Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamyai Nai' was being shown at the 'Rang Sharda' auditorium located in Bandra area of Mumbai. The director was Vaman Kendra and the Marathi adaptation was done by Shafat Khan. The show was a house full.
During the intermission there was a sudden commotion in the background. When Shafat Khan reached there, he found a man who claimed to be a local Shiv Sena leader threatening the producer and director to stop the play or the consequences would be dire. The man left the play midway. The drama has not stopped.
The staging of this play has been very successful in the country and abroad.
One person said- 'This play should not stop' A surprising thing happened after the last performance. The man receded into the background. He put his hand in his pocket. There were tears in his eyes. When he took out his hand from his pocket, he had bundles of 100 rupee notes in his hand. Giving it to the producer, he said – 'I'm sorry. I saw only half the play that day. I watched the whole drama today. This drama should not stop and if you need money call me.
In Pakistan, people climbed trees and watched the play Scene-2 is from the city of Karachi, Pakistan. Here Khalid Ahmed submitted the Urdu version of the play to the Commissioner of Police and sought permission to perform it.
The administration did not allow it, although several houseful shows of the play were held at the German information center 'Goethe Centre'. When people could not find space below, they sat on the branches of trees and watched the play.
Lucknow tour canceled after protest This view is dated 3 January 2009. The play, directed by Seema Kirmani of Karachi, would be staged at the eleventh Bharat Rang Mohotsav of the National School of Drama until the end. The reason was that some Hindu fundamentalist organizations threatened.
Somehow, the play was staged in Delhi amid heavy police presence, but the theater troupe's Lucknow tour had to be cancelled. Seema Kirmani returned to Karachi with her group disappointed.
The Australian woman cried so much that the operation was postponed Scene 4: A houseful show of this play was going on in Sydney, Australia. A woman was sitting in the audience whose eye was to be operated on the next day because the tears had dried up in her eyes.
He cried so much while watching the drama that his eyes filled with tears again. The next day, the doctor said that there was no need for an operation.
The stance of India and Pakistan on this drama is similar What is it about this play that Hindu and Muslim fundamentalists unite against? Governments of India and Pakistan also adopt a similar attitude.
It is important to remember here that the play was prepared at the same time when BJP leader LK Advani's Rath Yatra started. Babri Masjid was demolished. There were terrible riots in Mumbai and many parts of the country.
In a toxic atmosphere of hatred, mistrust and violence, the play speaks of human love and compassion, warns against the political use of religion and brings forward a global vision of peace and coexistence beyond the boundaries of nation, region, religion or caste.
Staged in many languages over 35 years 'Jees Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamyai Nai' is perhaps the only Hindi drama which has been continuously performed in Hindi as well as various Indian languages for the past thirty-five years.
It is also happening in many cities of the world like Washington, Sydney, Karachi, Abu Dhabi, Dubai etc. Hundreds of stories are associated with this play, some of which have been mentioned above.
This year marks thirty-five years since the play was written. Its two-decade anniversary (September 2009) is celebrated as an international festival. This was perhaps the first international festival of Hindi drama.
The special thing is that all this was done by theater lovers from all over the world with the help of their personal resources. It did not include government grants from India or any other country. On the twenty year global journey of this play, Vani Prakashan has published a special illustrated book under the editorship of this author – 'Do Dashak Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya…'
Asghar Wajahat is the author of the play.
The play is based on the partition period Now consider the history of this play. Urdu journalist Santosh Kumar first narrated an incident to Asghar Wajahat from Lahore. His younger brother Krishna Kumar Gortu was killed in riots during the 1947 Indo-Pak partition. This play is dedicated to him.
In fact, the killing symbolizes the killing of thousands of innocent people who were victims of communal hysteria and violence. Not long after the partition, Santosh Kumar went to Lahore where his brother was murdered. Then he was displaced from there and settled in Delhi. After returning from there, he wrote a lengthy travel memoir which was published in Urdu under the title 'Lahore Nama'. In this he mentions an old Hindu woman who was left alone in Lahore after partition. The son of that Punjabi woman and her entire family were missing. The old woman was sure that one day they would definitely come back.
Along with this story line, the drama became a play by imagining other things.
When Asghar Wajahat wrote the play in 1989, the first recital of the play had to be cancelled. No director turned up for the recital and the program had to be cancelled. It was first recited among the artists of Sri Ram Kendra Rangmandal, Delhi.
Habib Tanveer staged the play for the first time Asghar Wajahat went to Budapest, Hungary to learn Hindi. Suddenly he got a call from his wife that Habib Tanveer wanted to do this play with Shriram Center Rangmandal. Finally, the play was first performed on 22 September 1990 under the direction of Habib Sahib. That staging was so powerful that in no time the fame of the play spread all over the world. Later Habib Tanveer produced it for his institution 'Naya Theatre' along with his Chhattisgarh actors, many of whose performances have been going on till recently.
There is a large group of viewers in Pakistan who love this drama. All the shows there are house full. American traveling Hindi writer and Voice of America programmer Umesh Agnihotri staged the play in Washington DC in 1994. Foreign actors from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh worked in it. He had many successful performances in other cities as well.
In India, after Habib Tanveer, in 1998 veteran theater artist Dinesh Thakur staged it in Hindi in Mumbai with actors from his organization 'Ank'. Instead of Nasir Kazmi, he has included poems by Nida Fazli and scenes from the Gujarat riots. Dinesh Thakur himself played the role of Nasir Kazmi. After his death, his wife Preeta Mathur continues to show this drama.
Performed in many languages Here it is necessary to talk about the Kannada version of the play, which was started by the famous theater artist B.V. was done by Karanth. This work was later done by D.N. Srinak had completed. It was popularized as 'Ravi Kinare'. It was directed by Ramesh S.R. did This play has also been translated and acted in Gujarati. It had many translations in Punjabi. Keval Dhaliwal of Amritsar and Trilochan Singh of Ludhiana staged his shows on a grand scale. He received an unprecedented reception in Punjab.
Many more people tried to make the film This drama has also continuously attracted many filmmakers. First of all, Govind Nihalani bought the rights to make a film on it. Asghar Wajahat sent him a legal notice when he could not make a film for five years.
Now Rajkumar Santoshi has completed his film based on this play titled 'Lahore 1947' along with Aamir Khan at a cost of around Rs 100 crore, which will release in February next year.
But first he wanted to cast Sanjay Dutt in the lead role. Meanwhile, Sanjay Dutt went to jail in a case and the film was stopped. After last year's superhit film 'Gadar 2', this film now stars Rajkumar Santoshi and Aamir Khan in lead roles.
Author: Ajit Rai
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
