Theatre artiste Mahesh Dattani shares his encounter with Zohra Sehgal who refused to ‘trust' him
Habib Tanwir, Vijay Tendulkar, Satyadev Dubey and now Zohra Sehgal...it’s like passing of an era. It is painful to see the stalwarts leaving us one after the other. With them, a school of theatre has gone. Such people don’t exist anymore in our world. They were always natural and easy, on and off the stage. I think Zohra ji was league part. She formed the history of modern theatre. She had that rare spark to make any performance lively and cheerful. Today, we remember her for her screen roles because she stopped doing theatre long ago but I don’t find anybody as charismatic as her in theatre or films. She was so natural. The twinkle in her eyes and the sense of humour she had made her an extraordinary human being.
I always wanted to collaborate with her but somehow that wish remained unfulfilled. Some 20 years ago, when she was living partly in london and Delhi, I had sent one script for one of my london productions. It was difficult to get on board. By that time, she had left london and came back here. Six months later, I met her in Delhi somewhere. I told her I was the one who was trying to cast her in my theatre show. She immediately recognised and said, ‘Oh! You are the boy who had written that beautiful script. You write so well and must not stop.’ I expressed my commitment for theatre to her. I remember we were walking and she had a big handbag. She was moving in to a washroom and I asked her if I could hold her bag. She immediately responded with a laugh, ‘No! I don’t trust you. I cannot give it to you.’ I will never forget that meeting. I was always in awe of her. I couldn’t believe she actually remembered everything about the script and later discussed it with me.
I did meet her at two other occasions where we exchanged casual chats. My play Where Did I leave My Purda was inspired by her. It was about an actor in 80s who revives her theatre production company. I had officially stated that it was my tribute to Zohra ji. Unfortunately, I couldn’t present that script to her.
Though she was getting old, she was certainly not an old-school. I remember her talking about life, youth and food. She looked superb in her twilight years and some of her last releases. look at her role in Cheeni Kum. I cannot imagine anyone else pulling it off.
As she is no more now, I recall some fond memories spent with her. Some 15 years ago, there was a gathering of theatre artistes where she had enacted a small skit. I saw her performing five seats away from me. She was brilliant as usual. On another incident, Prithvi theatre had celebrated its anniversary sometime back and she came up on stage. She enthralled the audience with her performance on Abhi To Main Jawan Hun and she got a standing ovation.
life of a Genius
In 1912, Zohra Sehgal was born in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, to Natiqua Begum and Mohommad Mumtazullah.
She was third of seven children and grew up in Chakrata, now in Uttarakhand. She was a tomboy fond of climbing trees and playing games.
She studied at the Queen Mary College, lahore, as her mother wished that. She then went to the Mary Wigman's ballet school in Dresden, Germany. She was the first Indian to get admission there.
Her first public dance performance was with Uday Shankar in Sehgal Ballet Group in 1935.
She married Kameshwar Nath Sehgal, a dancer and performer who also studied at Uday Shankar Centre in Almora.
The couple moved to lahore in 1945 with their children to set up the Zohresh Dance Institute.
They moved back to Mumbai as communal tensions rose and Zohra joined Prithvi Theatre and also acted in plays staged by the Indian People’s Theatre Association.
Her first film role was in KA Abbas’ Dharti Ke lal.
Kameshwar died in 1959 and Zohra moved to Delhi to head the Natya Academy.
Zohra won a dance scholarship and went to london with her children in 1962.
After years of struggle and a sporadic career, she was signed up by Merchant Ivory Productions and acted in James Ivory’s The Courtesans of Bombay. It was her first film break in london.
She made her grand debut as lady Chatterjee in The Jewel in the Crown.
She battled cancer in 1994.
As told to Karan Bhardwaj