Girish Karnad’s Play: Tughlaq

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Playwright: Girish Karnad
Translator: B.V. Karanth
Director: Bharti Sharma
Group: Kshitij, Delhi
Language: Hindustani
Duration: 2 hrs

The Play
Tughlaq explores the series of events that led to the downfall of one of the most fascinating kings of Delhi, Mohammed-bin-Tughlaq. The protagonist, known for his reformist, ahead-of-times ideas had a grand vision, but his reign was an abject failure. He started his rule with great ideals of unifying India, but in twenty years his reign had degenerated into anarchy and his kingdom had become a ‘kitchen of death’.
The vision of Tughlaq to unify India and keep religion out of politics cost him dearly.

Director’s Note
Muhammad bin Tughlaq wanted to build a secular state, moving his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, a Hindu-majority city. His ideas about the economy were new but he turned into a whimsical tyrant who couldn’t control the kingdom any more. The life of the people is governed and corrupted by the interaction of the saints and the politicians. Tughlaq, who pretends to be a true follower of religion, commits countless murders to retain his monarchy. The play is eerily contemporary with thirteen scenes woven around the life and times of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the 14th century sultan of Delhi, and an authoritarian but idealistic king who disintegrates into failure in a span of twenty years. Tughlaq is noted for its symbols like prayer, sleep, game of chess and the rose which are used to heighten the effect of the play.

The Director
Bharti Sharma is a National School of Drama graduate and has been doing theatre in Delhi for last 38 years. She has acted in over fifty plays and has directed more than 35 plays. She has been awarded the Senior Fellowship by the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India. She has directed and co-produced a comedy serial for Doordarshan, directed documentaries made by Kshitij for Dept. Of Culture, Govt. of India, and has directed short-films and educational films for Deepaliya Plan Project (a social organization). She has acted in tele-films and a few episodes of the popular TV serial Bhanwar.

The Playwright
Girish Raghunath Karnad was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer. He is the recipient of Jnanpith Award for Kannada, the highest literary honour conferred in India. He was also active in the world of Indian cinema working as an actor, director, and screenwriter, earning numerous awards along the way. He was conferred Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the government of India.

The Group
Kshitij theatre group was established in 1987 by a few graduates of National School of Drama, headed by NSD alumna Bharti Sharma, with the aim of promoting Indian art and culture through theatre. Apart from producing plays it has also been organizing theatre workshops in remote areas of the country in collaboration with the Department of Culture, Govt. of India.

Cast & Credits
Tughlaq Mohit Tripathi
Sauteli Ma Bharti Sharma
Barni Lakshya Goel
Najeeb Nitin Koul
Azeez Anurag Kumar
Aazam Divyanshu Kumar
Sheikh Prabhat Mishra
Shahbuddin Akshay Malik
Ratan Singh Vishal Kasana
Ghiyasuddin Vishal Kasana
Kaka Prabhat Mishra
Mazhabi Aadmi Naveen Panday
Jawaan Sudhanshu
Shareef Lokesh Patel
Hindu Kamal Sharma
Sipahi Naveen Pandey
Hindu Aurat Priya Yadav
Jawaan Atul Pandey
Darbaan Kapil
Naqeeb Abhishant
Qareem Khan Bhartendu Pandey
Aurat 1 Ritu Sharma
Aurat 2 Shweta Gupta
Aurat 3 Shivani Arora
Dhindhorchi Lokesh, Atul Pandey, Abhishek
Ameer Umra Nitesh, Abhishek Bajpayee, Kamal, Pankaj, Sanjeev, Kapil, Jaideep, Ankit Rawal, Prakhar
Hindu Sipahi Lokesh Patel,Tarun Srivastava, Naveen Pandey, Atul Pandey, Abhishek Kamboj, Namit Singh, Ankit Raj, Vishal Kasana
Crowd Ritu, Shweta, Shivani, Naveen, Lovely, Abhishek Bajpayee, Nitesh, Kamal, Ishan Pundir, Nitin Joshi, Sanchit Agarwal, Ankush Singh, Nishant Singh, Tarun, Abhishek Kamboj, Namit, Ankit, Vishal, Bhartendu, Kapil, Lokesh, Jaideep, Ankit Rawal
Mulazim/Muslim Sipahi Ankit Raj Singh, Naveen, Atul, Bhartendu, Nitin Joshi, Abhishek,
Namit Singh

Lights Himanshu B. Joshi
Music Rupesh Bhimta
Set Management Abdul Hakim
Costume Nitin, Naveen, Abhishek, Ishaan
Property Abhishek Bajpaye, Lovely, Atul
Poster/Brochure Anurag Thakur
Assistant Director Anurag, Divyanshu

Playwright Girish Karnad
Director Bharti Sharma

Contacts
Director, Kshitij
A-9, Swati Complex, 3rd Floor,
Acharya Niketan, Mayur Vihar, Phase- I
Delhi- 110091
M: +91 9810824194
E: kshitij.t.group@gmail.com

Manohar Khushalani

Manohar Khushalani

Prof. Manohar Khushalani is a former Visiting Faculty at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi. The courses he taught were: Animation & Graphics, Non-Linear Editing for Film and Radio and Theatre Appreciation.  He has won a total of nine Excellence in Teaching awards for all the courses he has taught at IIITD Earlier he retired from Government of India as Director Environment Management, Central Water Commission and held many senior positions in the Government Based on a Belief that Culture and Environment are the two keys to global sustainability , Manohar Khushalani has launched two portals: A Portal on Environment and Water called One Vorld at url: www.onevorld.org and two Ezines on Culture called Stage Buzz at url: www.stagebuzz.in He has taught extensively in varied subjects such as Dam Safety, Instrumentation, CAD, IT, Animation, Theatre, Newspaper Editing. He has conducted Courses on Environment Management, Water Shed Development, Team Building and Personality Development. He was an Expert Member of Prasar Bharti’s Committee for Grading & Short listing Films for Telecast on all channels of Doordarshan.  He is a Radio Anchor for All India Radio and has moderated several programs for the Rajdhani Channel He is a well-known Theatre Actor/Director and Critic, has been involved in theatre since 1977. He has worked as an actor in over 50 plays with almost every leading director/Actor in the Country including Badal Sircar, Feisal Alkazi, Amal Allana, M.K. Raina, Anuradha Kapoor, Maya Rao, Manohar Singh, Prasanna, Rati Bartholomew and Sushmita Mukherji. He has been active in the social sector as a street theatre activist. As a member of Workshop Theatre, Theatre Union and Prayog, Khushalani has participated in street plays taking up major social issues such as dowry, bride burning, Sati, banned medicinal drugs and communalism. Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Can’t Pay Won’t Pay, both directed by him, received rave notices from critics and audiences alike. Other plays directed by him include Badal Sircar’s, Sagina Mahato and Boris Vian’s Empire Builders for Ruchika Theatre Group. Khushalani has also acted in a few films such as Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi , Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Café and Pradeep Krishan's Annie Gives Those Ones. He is an Animator & Graphics Designer and has directed a number of documentaries. He also held a number of Honorary positions and was President of North India Films Association, He was the Chairman of  Jury for UGC CEC Educational Films Competition and has been on their Preview Committee since last many years. He was on the preview committee of Door Darshan Channel 3, was a visiting Professor at National School of Drama, New Delhi, and Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, AJKMCRR, Jamia Milia Islamia and Professor in Media at FICT, Delhi  He has judged a large number of Drama Competitions and conducted a number of Theatre / Management Games Workshops with Institutions such as AIIMS, NTPC, CWPRS, NWA, Karve Nari Prakshishan Sansthan, FICT, IIT, MAMC, Gargi College, KNC, Tagore International School and Vivekananda School. He is a Theatre Critic for IIC Diary, has also been a Columnist with Midday and Pioneer Daily and wrote Column's Called Culture Cocktail and Footlights Respectively. He was also the Guest Editor for an issue on Folk Theatre of ICCR Journal Horizons. He has written for Times of Indian, Hindustan Times, Blitz, Hard News, Hindu Business Line, Theatre India & Art Times. He has designed dams and hydraulic structures for the Government. He is a programmer and has developed Engineering design software in Fortran. He is a co-author of Irrigation Practice & Design (Vol 1 to5 - 1500 pages) published by Oxford & IBH and sponsored by National Book Trust. He has been a Director, Environment and Sociology, at the National Water Academy, Khadakwasla and Director, Environment Management Directorate, Central Water Commission and Member Secretary, National Environmental Monitoring Committee for River Valley Projects. He was also Director of Instrumentation Directorate in the Dam Safety Organisation. He was Chief General Manager and Head of Water Resources at Scott Wilson and is an accredited consultant with numerous other organizations He is a Delhi Public School, BITS Pilani, IIT Delhi and FTI Pune Alumini. He was also the President of BITS Pilani Alumni Association, Pune.

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