Long before films and theatre, or even the adventures of Harry Potter, there was the dastangoi, the medieval art of storytelling, which dove into the world of fantasy and sorcery. The original ‘dastango’ or storyteller engaged audiences at street corners in Lucknow or on the steps of the Jama Masjid, each story taking several days to play out. Today, theatreperson and Peepli Live co-director Mahmood Farooqui and his team of actors recreate the art on stage. He talks to Anuradha Varma about what makes the dastan special
What is dastangoi?
Dastangoi is the Urdu and Indian art of storytelling where the narrator uses nothing other than his voice to tell stories of war, love, Tilism and Aiyyari, most of which centre around Amir Hamza, his progenies and their adventures. They often fight again mighty sorcerers and in this they are aided by an army of tricksters, led by Amar Aiyyar, who is Hamza’s childhood friend.
How and when were you introduced to it? What fascinated you to work on its revival?
I was introduced to it by the legendary Urdu scholar and my uncle S. R. Faruqi. He has painstakingly collected all the 46 volumes of the series and done a multi-volume study of it. I was drawn to it because the stories were truly marvelous and dramatic and as a theatre director and actor I got material that was totally self-contained. I needed nothing else, not even rehearsal space to prepare them and as a performer it gave me immense joy.
When was the last dastan written? Have there been attempts to write fresh ones?
Dastans were an oral narrative, passed orally from the Ustads to the apprentices. They were only written and printed when the tradition was coming to an end, at the end of 19th century. The last great Dastango Miir Baqar Ali died in 1928. We have compiled some Dastan like narratives, one around Partition, one around Binayak Sen but they are more like Dastangoi presentations and less like Dastans.
What does Dastangoi reveal historically about the period it was popular? What were the times like?
It reveals extremely fun people who were willing to suspend their disbelief to an amazing degree. It also shows a period where attitudes to romance, sex, bawdiness, morality and religious sanctions were much more relaxed and liberal than in our times. It also shows a very sophisticated taste for entertainment.
Among the dastangos, who was the most prolific? Was it a populist art or restricted to the courts and elite gatherings?
Dastangos recited their stories from the steps of Jama Masjid and at street sides in Lucknow so it was popular with the masses and elite alike. It was immensely popular in places like Lucknow, Delhi, Rampur and Hyderabad. There must have been at least hundreds of Dastangos in the nineteenth century. I would say Syed Husain Jah was probably the best Dastango.
Who are the main people involved in this, besides you and actor Danish Hussain? Does Anusha (Rizvi, his wife and co-director of Peepli Live) play any role here?
I started this in 2005, then Dan joined me in 2006 and now there are about 12 people in Delhi and Bombay who regularly perform with us. S. R. Faruqi is, of course, in a sense the founder and mentor and continues to be involved. Anusha is the executive producer and looks after the costumes and the props and has collaborated closely at all stages on it.
I had a grant from the India Foundation for the Arts for a couple of years in order to conduct workshops in Delhi and Bombay and to bring out a book, etc. But everyone involved in it does other things to keep themselves going. We support ourselves.
Has the success of Peepli Live rubbed off on the Dastangoi performances? Is it easier to get people to the performances?
We like to do shows which are free and open to all. Peepli Live is in a separate realm and Dastangoi is something else; they have very little to do with each other.
The Dastangoi is in Urdu… is there a secular message there somewhere? Among the dastangos mentioned is Amba Prasad Rasa, along with Mir Ahmad Ali Rampuri, Muhammad Amir Khan, and Ghulam Raza.
The Dastan narratives are themselves very secular. Urdu has a highly secular ethos and there has always been a small but significant component of non-Muslim writers and scholars in Urdu. But until 1947 everyone who lived in Punjab, Hindu, Muslim or Sikh used and spoke Urdu. Some of the biggest Urdu newspapers were published from there.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-29/news-interviews/29829149_1_dastangoi-urdu-storytelling
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