Arun Marwah on Tughlaq: The play has pure Urdu which is music to the ears only if the pronunciation is perfect

Arun Marwah is all set for the premiere of his directorial Tughlaq. The play is an adaptation of late Girish Karnad’s famous play of the same name. Vivek Singh plays the lead role of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, who was known for his visionary ideas, but was vastly misunderstood by his courtiers and common people alike. Also read: Ishwak Singh likes to stay connected to his theatre roots; calls the stage training ‘fodder’ for an artiste

In an interview with Hindustan Times, director Arun Marwah opens up about the play Tughlaq and how it stands out from the other similar adaptations. Excerpts:

How is your adaptation different from other adaptions of the Girish Karnad play?

Girish Karnad had originally written it in Kannada and it is considered a milestone in Indian theatre. Every theatre artist wants to be a part of this play. Tughlaq is in Hindustani language and has songs, while the original doesn’t have any songs. We have tried to give a Sufiyana touch to it.

What were the challenges in bringing this creation alive?

This has Hindustani language, which is very different from how we speak in day-to-day life. We use some Urdu words unknowingly, while talking in Hindi. This play has pure Urdu which is music to the ears but only if the pronunciation is perfect. Hardly anyone does it so perfectly but we do try to reach near perfection. This has been a challenge.

Also, this has a huge cast of around 25 members. So managing them in today’s scenario becomes bit challenging. Also, most of them are new with no prior experience. We have an acting academy so we start very early and take actors trained here. Only two of three are slightly experienced in this play.

This is a historical and accuracy is of utmost importance. What brief was given to the lead actor playing Tughlaq?

Vivek plays the lead role here. His character is very complex. Although Tughlaq was a visionary but his execution of ideas was poor. He was also very cruel. He was passionate in doing everything in the right manner but his subjects were not ready to accept his ideas because he was always much ahead of his time. The character gets extremely impatient and frustrated at a time when he thinks that his followers are not listening to him despite him being the correct one.

The play will be held at 6:30 pm on May 14 at the Arya Samajh Auditorium in Gurugram.