“This is a legacy that we have inherited and we want to keep it alive”

In November, theater lovers will flock to the Prithvi Theatre, built by actors Shashi and Jennifer Kapoor in memory of Hindustani theater legend Prithviraj Kapoor, to enjoy the annual festival that begins on his birth anniversary on November 3. It will be a two-week festival when plays, concerts, dance recitals and storytelling will enthrall the audience. Overall, a jam-packed schedule, with a variety of fare for different tastes.

Needless to say, it took a lot of work to put this together. The lead of this film is Kunal Kapoor, grandson of Prithviraj Kapoor. Deciding what will be staged, curating programmes, providing the necessary facilities, coordinating with theater groups, dancers, musicians, the media and countless others, is no easy task. It is truly commendable to continue the tradition started by their parents more than forty years ago! Amidst the hustle and bustle ahead of the grand event starting on November 3, we had a quick interview with him.

Excerpts from the interview:

This year there are a large number of Hindi and Hindustani dramas…

This has always been the case because my grandfather, Prithviraj Kapoor, was the pioneer of Hindustani theatre, which he promoted across the country with his traveling troupe. It is a legacy that we have inherited and we want to keep it alive.

Interestingly, there are four presentations using the age-old Dastangoi form.

This is a coincidence. But it is interesting that this traditional form would be used in some productions to tell stories as diverse as Alice in Wonderland and Sand-Samadhi by Gitanjali Sri, whose English translation, Tomb of Sand, won the Booker Prize.

There's even a Hollywood film adaptation!

Yes, Akarsh Khurana will be staging It's a Wonderful Life, an adaptation of Frank Capra's classic 1946 Christmas film.

Many who are regulars at the festival every year, like directors Naseeruddin Shah and Makarand Deshpande, will be staging the show this year too. Can you name some directors who will be showcasing their talent at the festival for the first time this year?

Divya Jagdale, Mehmood Farooqui, Rukhmini Vijayakumar and most of them will be performing at Prithvi House where there will be 16 fringe productions. Firoz Abbas Khan will return to the festival after several years with Hind, the Hindi version of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fences, with Sachin Khedekar playing the role of a frustrated father.

Can you name some of the upcoming talents who will be performing at Prithvi House in the Fringe section?

Writer-director Lovely Raj will stage Ahem Murakami in Hindi, English and a little Japanese. Bhavya Rampal will present Annie Zaidi's jam. Writer Gagan Dev Riyar's Saranta will be directed by Bhagyashree Tarke. The Fringe section gives small groups the opportunity to express their talents in front of enthusiastic theater lovers.

Why did you decide to start this year's festival with a Qawwali show?

This is a great way to celebrate. In the past, we have had Sufi, folk, classical programs on our opening night.

Also, can you elaborate on the other concerts of the festival?

Lewis Banks will perform Jazz@Earth with three other pianists in the festival's grand finale. There will be CR Vyas restrictions at 7.30 am in the ninth year of Udayaswar@Prithvi. SOI@Prithvi, the symphony orchestra of India, will present Western classical music with a special focus on the works of Sibelius, Vivaldi, Bizet and Mozart. The evening will feature Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, performed by 10-year-old Ayaan Deshpande, a student of SOI's Music Academy.

You also have an evening of dancing…

Yes, there is Abducted, a dance rendition by Rukmini Vijayakumar, which criticizes objectification of women and treating their bodies as an object.

For the last few years, your son Zahaan and daughter Shayra have been actively involved in organizing the festival. who does what?

Zahan handles social media content, videos and still photography. Shayra, a production designer, oversees the decor and look of the venue. The duo has a team of young boys and girls assisting them, who are supervised by Lalit Sathe and Sanjay Pawar.

When does discussion about festivals begin at the dinner table?

it never ends; Therefore there is no beginning!

How does it feel when it's over?

Relief and exhaustion!