Reliving classic Urdu literature

Karachi
The art of storytelling remains deep rooted in the history of the subcontinent where, in the absence of digital media, artists and performers used to read out stories orally to theatre-goers.
Graduates of the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) Fawad Khan, Nazrul Hasan and Syed Meesam Naqvi performed at a two-day session of Daastangoi held at The Second Floor on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
The group presented excerpts from Tilism-e-Hoshruba- the world’s first and longest magical fantasy, authored by Urdu’s greatest prose stylist Muhammad Hussain Jah, later replaced by Ahmed Hussain Qamar, and ‘Haveli’ from Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi's collection ‘Aab-e-Ghum’.
The first part of the performance was purely an attempt to take the audience back to the old times of Daastangoi as the performers adorned Lukhnawi Angarkhas while the performance was of the great contemporary humorist Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi.