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Safdar Hashmi
Safdar Hashmi (12 April 1954 – 2 January 1989) was an Indian communist playwright and director, best known for his work with street theatre in India. He was also an actor, lyricist, and theorist, and he is still considered an important voice in Indian political theatre. He was an activist of the Students' Federation of India (SFI).
He was a founding member of Jana Natya Manch (People's Theatre Front; JANAM for short) in 1973, which grew out of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). He was murdered in 1989 in Jhandapur, while performing a street play, Halla Bol.
Safdar Hashmi was born on 12 April 1954 in Delhi, to Haneef and Qamar Azad Hashmi. He spent the early part of his life in Delhi and Aligarh, where he grew up in a liberal environment, and went on to complete his schooling in Delhi. He was the brother of activists Shabnam Hashmi and Sohail Hashmi, and actress Saba Azad is his niece.
Hashmi graduated from St. Stephen's College, Delhi with a degree in English Literature, and went on to complete his M.A. in English from Delhi University. During this period, he became associated with the cultural unit of the Students' Federation of India, the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and eventually with the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). In the years before and after his graduation, he worked on several plays with IPTA, such as Kimlesh, and Dekhte Lena.
The issue is not where the play is performed (and street theatre is only a mode of ensuring that art is available to the people), but the principal issue is the 'definite and unresolvable contradiction between the bourgeois individualist view of art and the people's collectivist view of art'.
- Safdar Hashmi, The Enchanted Arch, Or the Individual and Collective Views of Art (April 1983), The Right to Perform, pp. 28–29
Hashmi co-founded the Jana Natya Manch (People's Theatre Front), with the acronym JANAM ("birth" in Hindi), in 1973. JANAM grew out of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and was associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), with which he was actively involved in the 1970s. When Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was accused of rigging the elections, he produced a street play, Kursi, Kursi, Kursi (Chair, Chair, Chair), as a reaction to the controversy. The play narrates the story of a king whose throne moves with him when he attempts to give it up in favour of an elected representative. The play was performed every day for a week, at the Boat Club Lawns in New Delhi, then a hub of political activity. It proved to be a turning point for JANAM.
Until 1975, JANAM performed open-air proscenium and street plays for mass audiences. When Indira Gandhi imposed a state of emergency and made political theatre difficult, Hashmi began to work as a lecturer in English literature in universities in Garhwal, Kashmir, and Delhi.
When the Emergency ended in 1977, he returned to political activism, and in 1978, JANAM took to street theatre in a big way with Machine, which was performed for a trade union meeting of over 200,000 workers on 20 November 1978. This was followed by plays on the distress of small peasants (Gaon Se Shahar Tak), on clerical fascism (Hatyare & Apharan Bhaichare Ke), on unemployment (Teen Crore), on violence against women (Aurat) and on inflation (DTC ki Dhandhli). Hashmi also produced several documentaries and a TV serial for Doordarshan, including Khilti Kaliyan (Flowers in Bloom), which examined rural empowerment. He also wrote books for children and criticism of the Indian stage.
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Safdar Hashmi
Safdar Hashmi (12 April 1954 – 2 January 1989) was an Indian communist playwright and director, best known for his work with street theatre in India. He was also an actor, lyricist, and theorist, and he is still considered an important voice in Indian political theatre. He was an activist of the Students' Federation of India (SFI).
He was a founding member of Jana Natya Manch (People's Theatre Front; JANAM for short) in 1973, which grew out of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). He was murdered in 1989 in Jhandapur, while performing a street play, Halla Bol.
Safdar Hashmi was born on 12 April 1954 in Delhi, to Haneef and Qamar Azad Hashmi. He spent the early part of his life in Delhi and Aligarh, where he grew up in a liberal environment, and went on to complete his schooling in Delhi. He was the brother of activists Shabnam Hashmi and Sohail Hashmi, and actress Saba Azad is his niece.
Hashmi graduated from St. Stephen's College, Delhi with a degree in English Literature, and went on to complete his M.A. in English from Delhi University. During this period, he became associated with the cultural unit of the Students' Federation of India, the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and eventually with the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). In the years before and after his graduation, he worked on several plays with IPTA, such as Kimlesh, and Dekhte Lena.
The issue is not where the play is performed (and street theatre is only a mode of ensuring that art is available to the people), but the principal issue is the 'definite and unresolvable contradiction between the bourgeois individualist view of art and the people's collectivist view of art'.
- Safdar Hashmi, The Enchanted Arch, Or the Individual and Collective Views of Art (April 1983), The Right to Perform, pp. 28–29
Hashmi co-founded the Jana Natya Manch (People's Theatre Front), with the acronym JANAM ("birth" in Hindi), in 1973. JANAM grew out of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and was associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), with which he was actively involved in the 1970s. When Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was accused of rigging the elections, he produced a street play, Kursi, Kursi, Kursi (Chair, Chair, Chair), as a reaction to the controversy. The play narrates the story of a king whose throne moves with him when he attempts to give it up in favour of an elected representative. The play was performed every day for a week, at the Boat Club Lawns in New Delhi, then a hub of political activity. It proved to be a turning point for JANAM.
Until 1975, JANAM performed open-air proscenium and street plays for mass audiences. When Indira Gandhi imposed a state of emergency and made political theatre difficult, Hashmi began to work as a lecturer in English literature in universities in Garhwal, Kashmir, and Delhi.
When the Emergency ended in 1977, he returned to political activism, and in 1978, JANAM took to street theatre in a big way with Machine, which was performed for a trade union meeting of over 200,000 workers on 20 November 1978. This was followed by plays on the distress of small peasants (Gaon Se Shahar Tak), on clerical fascism (Hatyare & Apharan Bhaichare Ke), on unemployment (Teen Crore), on violence against women (Aurat) and on inflation (DTC ki Dhandhli). Hashmi also produced several documentaries and a TV serial for Doordarshan, including Khilti Kaliyan (Flowers in Bloom), which examined rural empowerment. He also wrote books for children and criticism of the Indian stage.