LAHORE: The Maas Foundation is going to premiere its historical musical theatre play, Aaj Ki Umrao Jaan, on Thursday (tomorrow) at Alhamra, The Mall.

On the occasion of 14th death anniversary of legendary playwright, director and actor C. M. Munir, the Maas Foundation is paying a tribute to him by dedicating the drama to him.

The theme of the play has been taken from Mirza Hadi Ruswa’s famous novel Umrao Jaan Ada. Mirza’s era was a time of social upheaval, the old Mughal and Oudhi values were fading and the British rulers were slowly infiltrating every layer of lives of the common people. This drama depicts that era of ruthlessness and selfishness.

The story of the play spans from the partition of India, liberation from the British Raj to our present day society. The plot shows not only the conflict of father and son due to Umrao but it also depicts the dark side of conflict between materialism and idealism, a clash between capitalism and socialism.

The production expects the play to be a starting point of the debate about what we all are dreaming of and what actually we are. It’s always difficult to show the time lapse on stage but in this play this is represented artistically through the journey of dance and music.

Although this musical is entertaining, yet people with keen sensibilities can also find a social message in it. The most interesting thing is that if the audiences don’t immediately hate the social status of its characters, they will appear to the audience as everyday human beings, who are accidentally bound by the chains of time. Sometimes they win the struggles and sometimes lose. One can feel their struggle.

The play is written by Dr Riaz Baber while directed by Maas Foundation President Aamir Nawaz. This musical is choreographed by Gulshan Majeed and Shahid Baloch while music designed by Imran Mani. The cast includes Eshah Shakeel, Zohaib Haider, Eshah Malik, Zaheer Taj, Muqadas Malik, Kamran Baloch, Marvi and Sarfraz Ansari.

The play will also be staged on Sept 30 and Oct 1 also at the same venue.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2023