Vikramjeet Bhattacharya’s forthcoming directorial venture Eight Kings will have theatre thespian Farhad Colabavala enact all the rulers of Delhi. The director tells Shrabasti Mallik about the play which is strung together by Ibn Battuta
They say that an actor dons several roles in his lifetime but theatre veteran Farhad Colabavala seems to have taken the saying quite literally. Under the careful guidance of director Vikramjeet Sinha, Farhad will portray the eight kings who ruled Delhi during the time of Nizamuddin Auliya.
Titled Eight Kings, the play is a unique take on the history, political scenario and the social structure of that time. The play begins with the arrival of the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta, who comes to Delhi during the reign of Mohammed Bin Tughluq.
Eight Kingsis based on the time when the capital was being shifted from Delhi to Daulatabad and if history is to be believed then there was this wandering dervish Naseeruddin, a follower of Nizamuddin Auliya, who refused to move.
The play is pegged on a meeting of Harbola Quallandar — a fictitious character who is a loner, a wanderer and who speaks to animals — and Ibn Battuta, who is told the stories of the Sultans of Delhi. History has it that Ibn Battuta served seven years in the court of Mohammed Bin Tughluq and served as a judge in his court.
“The idea originated from a book that a friend, Dhritabrata Bhattacharya Tato (who scored the music of the play), is working on titled Nine Nights and A Million Stars. It draws on the same theme and paints a parallel between the time of Nizamuddin Auliya and the present scenario,” Sinha told us.
“Delhi has witnessed saints and emperors coexist peacefully through centuries, who became an intrinsic part of its historical and cultural landscape. The Kalander speaks about the fickleness of fate and transient nature of political power, and ultimately how only love has triumphed over the centuries,” he elaborated about the highlight of the play which is produced by The India Harmony Foundation.
One is bound to be fascinated by the bilingual dialect of the script. While the Fakir speaks in Hindi the rulers speaks English. “The play primarily is in English. Even though Sultans of that era spoke Turkish which eventually combined with other Central Asian languages to emerge as Urdu or Hindustani,” the director explained.
Farhad, who will be depicting all the eight kings will be seen in eight different turbans, denoting each king. Having spent a good number of years in material theatre, he found the concept of using a headgear quite appealing.
“The person who is crowned is constantly shown sporting a turban, denoting head of a region or power. I have been associated with physical theatre for many years and to me, every piece of cloth embodies the human form. The turbans embody the head and shoes embody the feet. They are an intrinsic part of material theatre and are highly significant and symbolic,” the director pointed out.
With every king the turban changes, showing clearly the fall of that particular empire. “The core idea that survived was that of love,” the director interjects. “If you look at the history of that time, there were notions of justice, political prowess and the show of power but everything faded away. Only love survived,” he added.
To lend an apt setting to the theme of the play, the act of each Sultan will be supported by visuals of heritage structures in Delhi of that particular period.
The play, to be staged at Multipurpose Hall, India International Center today, will be supported by Amir Khusro’s poetry in praise of his beloved master Nizamuddin Auliya.
