Rakesh Bedi opens the stage programme with Vijay Tendulkar’s Massage on November 12. The 21st edition also features Raghubir Yadav’s Piano and screenings of Jait Re Jait and Yatra.
Theatre Doyen Qadir Ali Baig
Vijay Tendulkar’s Massage, performed by Rakesh Bedi, will open the 21st Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival at Hyderabad’s Taramati Baradari Indoor Auditorium on November 12. The festival schedule was announced on November 9, with a line-up that takes audiences from live theatre to Marathi and Hindi cinema, with workshops and masterclasses that look at how both are made.
Festival Curator Padmashri Mohammad Ali Baig
Curated by Padma Shri recipient Mohammad Ali Baig, the festival honours Hindustani theatre doyen Qadir Ali Baig. Over two decades, it has brought Indian and international theatre practitioners to Hyderabad, staging work at venues including Falaknuma Palace, Golconda Fort, Salar Jung Museum and Chowmahalla Palace. The traditional Hyderabadi chowki dinners at the Baig family haveli have also been part of the festival’s hospitality.
A Still from Goutam Ghose’s ‘Yatra’ at ‘Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival’
From Massage to Piano
The formal inauguration begins at 7 pm on November 12, followed by Massage at 7.30 pm. Harbansh Singh directs Bedi in the Tendulkar play. The following evening, Raghubir Yadav and Roshini Achreja perform Piano, Yadav’s adaptation of Hungarian playwright Ferenc Karinthy’s Steinway Grand, at the same venue.
Raghubir Yadav in ‘Piano’ at ‘Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival’
On November 14, Daulat Vaid’s Shakuni: The Question Remains, featuring Shrivardhan Trivedi, turns the spotlight on one of the Mahabharata’s most debated figures. On November 18, Manu Rishi Chadha performs Window Tak Ashiqui, which he also wrote, at Novotel Hyderabad Airport.
Rakesh Bedi in ‘Massage’ at ‘Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival’
Smita Patil and Nana Patekar on the big screen
Smita Patil
Jabbar Patel’s National Award-winning Marathi film Jait Re Jait, featuring Smita Patil and Mohan Agashe, will screen at Radisson Blu Plaza on November 16. The following evening, Novotel Hyderabad Airport will host a screening of Goutam Ghose’s Yatra, starring Nana Patekar, Rekha and Deepti Naval, as a tribute to Patekar. Both screenings begin at 7.30 pm.
A Still from ‘Shakuni’ at ‘Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival’
Workshops and masterclasses
At Taramati Baradari Banquet Hall, Ranjana Srivastava leads Theatre for Children on November 14. On November 15, Daulat Vaid, Raghav Prakash Mishra and Divyang Shrivastava explore how stage lighting shapes a performance in The Language of Light. Jabbar Patel leads a masterclass on moving from theatre to cinema that afternoon, while Goutam Ghose discusses the making of Yatra on November 17 ahead of its screening.
A still from Mohammad Ali Baig’s film ‘Chand Tara’ at ‘Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival’
