The chairperson of National School of Drama announced her retirement this week.
The theatre-director, who also designed costumes and scenery, was ending her second tenure. Allana has had a long, illustrious career, directing over 55 plays in Hindi.
She was also a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award recipient, receiving the prize for direction. Born to theatre doyen Ebrahim Alkazi in 1947, Alkazi has been at the helm of things from the time she skipped school, to join National School of Drama. She graduated from there during 1968.
Her most talked about production has been Nati Binodini (2006), which she did after discovering the autobiography of early 20th century, courtesan-turned-Bengali stage actress, Binodini Das, after two years of research.