While the council aims to now conduct the festival in late August, no confirmed date has been announced yet. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI: Just as Karachi Arts Council has encountered multiple failed attempts in bringing renowned Indian personalities to the country in the past, their latest venture, titled Arts Council Theatre Festival, which was supposed to commence from July 22, has been postponed as well.“We have postponed the festival because our internal funding has been delayed,” Karachi Arts Council General Secretary Ahmed Shah told The Express Tribune.
The 17-day festival was set to feature heavyweights such as Anwar Maqsood and Zia Mohyeddin. At the same time, young and promising directors had also been given a platform to present their plays. The festival was set to begin with Mohyeddin’s Khwabon Ke Musafir, and the event was to close with Anwar Maqsood’s Siachen, directed by Dawar Mahmood.
Other plays to be showcased include Tehrik-e-Niswan’s Manto Mera Dost and Jinnay Lahore Nahin Vekhya, Choti Moti Tota aur SM Shahid directed by Khalid Anum and Zain Ahmed’s Gurya Ghar. Moreover, NAPA alumnus Akbar Islam was to present his play Aarfy, an adaptation of Mary Chase’s Harvey.
Earlier this year, it was announced that the council had invited Indian film-maker Rajkumar Hirani to Pakistan. The director of blockbuster films such as PK, 3 Idiots and the Munna Bhai series was set to conduct a week-long workshop on the technical side of film-making. However, that project came to no fruition.
Prior to this, in 2014, Indian poet, lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar was invited to the 7th Urdu Conference in Karachi but could not join because he was refused a Pakistani visa. “You know how the situation has been in our country recently. Rajkumar Hirani was invited but was unable to visit due to the tense situation,” stated Shah. He added, that they intend to hold the festival in late August, after the grant has been sorted out. However, no confirmed date has been announced yet.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 23rd, 2016.
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