Tarannum Ahmed as Meena Kumari.

Bazm-e-Urdu (Assembly of Urdu) Dubai, the non-profit, non-religious, and non-political organisation working for the propagation of Urdu language by organising cultural events related to the language in Dubai, hosted Chalte Chalte (As one walked or journeyed), a programme dedicated to iconic Indian movie star Meena Kumari, at its annual Mehfil-e-Urdu (Forum of Urdu) meet. The event took place on December 24, at Emirates International School, Jumeirah. Meena Kumari (Mahjabeen Bano) was a beloved actress of the Hindi silver screen in the era between 1955 and 1975. Muskan Syed Riaz began the proceedings by welcoming the audience and by introducing segments that were to follow. As the arrival of the Guest of Honour was awaited, an opportunity was provided to engage the audience in a quiz hosted by Saima Naqvi on the life of Meena Kumari (who took the pen name Naaz in her Urdu poetry). It set the tone for the evening. Those from the audience who gave correct answers, were presented with Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai souvenirs.

Then, Rehan Khan, Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai General Secretary, spoke about the organisation. He underlined its notable achievements, especially in introducing Urdu in Indian schools. “Inter-school Urdu competitions are held every year in the UAE by Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai,” he noted.

Rehan Khan speaks on Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai.

Khan also expressed gratitude to his team, acknowledging the efforts of Bazm-e-Urdu members. Mehfil-e-Urdu is also a time for Bazm-e-Urdu to acknowledge literary creations, celebrate literary prowess, and to honour contributors and contributions to the Urdu language, by presenting awards in various categories. The prestigious Josh-e-Urdu Award, named after Urdu poet Josh Malihabadi, is a Writer’s category award. It was presented to Waseem Barelvi this year for his outstanding work in Urdu poetry. Since he was unable to travel to Dubai, Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai presented the award to him in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh State in India, on December 18. The audience savoured the occasion through an audio visual clip.

Shakeel Ahmed Khan, President, Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai, welcomed Dr. Bu Abdullah, Guest of Honour, and extended greetings to Sania Saeed, the TV star from Pakistan, and actor, director, producer and poet, Sachin Pilgaonkar of India and the well-known social activist and litterateur from India, Kamna Prasad. The second award, named the Alamdar-e-Urdu Award, was presented to Prasad, for her exceptional contributions to promoting the Urdu language. She expressed her pleasure on being invited by Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai and congratulated Rehan Khan and his team for their dedication towards the cause of promoting Urdu. She gave a short and inspirational address.

Anupama Kaushik on stage.

The launch of Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai’s annual magazine, an in-house publication, also took place. It was put together by the team of Arif Siddiqui, Sarwar Nepali, Sarwat Zehra, Ehya Ul Islam, Sadia Tariq, Shadab Ulfat and Saima Naqvi, as members of the Mujalla Committee. Articles written by members including Imad ul Malik, Mohammad Saleem, Muskan Syed Riaz, Madhav Barve, Ramla Syed and Adnan Munawar, have been included in the magazine. The launch was followed by Rubaru (Face-to-face), a captivating discussion between Sania Saeed and Sachin Pilgaonkar about incidents from Meena Kumari’s life, Saeed being the host and Pilgaonkar, the guest speaker. The latter shared many anecdotes from Meena Kumari’s life, himself having been a witness to many of them

Then followed Chalte Chalte, the play written and directed by Dr. Sayeed Alam. Part musical, it referenced key happenings in Meena Kumari’s life and times.  Tarannum Ahmed delivered a mesmerising performance in the lead role as Meena Kumari. Ailing yet still with plenty of vim, the late actress was depicted speaking her heart out to a character named Chandan (none other than Kamal Amrohvi, Meena Kumari’s husband). Kumari was shown as remembering her life as she lived it, from her birth and childhood acting days, to the day in 1972 when she loses the battle of life. The scenes in the play were seamlessly blended with songs from her movies, with her own ghazals being sung live. (A ghazal is a lyric poem with a fixed number of verses and a repeated rhyme).

Muskan Syed Riaz welcomes the audience.

Tarannum Ahmed was accompanied by Kathak artist Anupama Kaushik, who danced to the songs, even as a team of musicians led by Mehran Shah, brought Meena Kumari’s ghazals to life. Shah not only sung the ghazals, but also composed their music. The script, dialogue, choice of film songs and ghazals and the direction was rounded off by riveting light effects controlled by director Dr. Sayeed Alam himself. It was a full house that was treated to the life as lived by Meena Kumari. Due to the contrast between her stardom and troubled private life, she is closely linked to broader discussions about modern phenomena such as the permanence of mass media and the ephemerality of fame. The greatest hallmark of Kumari is considered to be her ability to depict the struggle of Indian women of the 1950s and 1960s.

The Marketing Committee of Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai was headed by Sarosh Asif, assisted by Tarannum Ahmed, Saima Naqvi and Zubaida Khanum. The Stage Committee was led by Mohammad Saleem, assisted by Sheheryar and Badiuzzaman, while the hall was managed by Ehya ul Islam with team members Marya Aftab and Adnan Munawar. The audience was received by Ramla and Shadab and the audio visual experience was orchestrated by Muskan Syed Riaz. Mehfil-e-Urdu 2023 was sponsored by Danube, Acacia Gardens, Sharaf Exchange and Prime Health, supported by The Brew, Vibe FM105.4, ARY Digital and Malhar Centre for Performing Arts.