Tribute to a stalwart

As The Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary, Mohammed Ali Baig, who spearheads the fest, shares about the beginnings of theatre revival in Hyderabad, his future plans, and more

The Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation is now globally credited for its theatre revival model in Hyderabad. Mohammed Ali Baig and his home productions have been feted at high-brow international festivals and prestigious theatre venues in India and abroad.

Excerpts:

What is Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival?

It is like an annual get-together for the country’s theatre personalities, actors, writers and craftsmen. They get a chance to spend time together to watch each other perform and to revive theatre. Hyderabad was never on the theatre map, but we are today because of Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival.

When did you think of starting the festival?

Born into a theatre family and being a part of the The Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation, I feel its mandate for me to revive theatre in Hyderabad - ‘meaningful theatre with popular appeal’. Baba’s theatre, like his persona, was larger-than-life; he was involved in epic-scale productions at real forts and palaces way back in 1970. What I do for theatre is as a tribute to my father, Qadir Ali Baig, and I do it with sanctity in mind. When we started the festival, it was for five days and now we are celebrating it for 10 days with 200 artistes.

What were the major challenges when you started the festival?

When we started, we used to approach people (artistes). But now they approach us. And the biggest challenge in the beginning was the venue and sponsors, because this was a new concept in the city.

Earlier you were an ad-filmmaker and documentary producer. How did the transition to theatre happened?

I am an ad and corporate filmmaker but what I do for theatre is as a tribute to my father. Theatre is stifling to me because of the high benchmarks that have been set by him and I am an illiterate in the world of theatre. A son's tribute to his father led to a nationwide festival by bringing the world’s best theatre to the city and taking the city’s theatre heritage and culture to the world.

When did you realise that your father was a great theatre personality?

It was at his 20th anniversary. That was a turning point for me. At the commemoration function of Baba in Hyderabad, I saw Habbib Tanveer sahab, writers, directors and actors paying tribute to him with moist eyes and choked voices, as if they were talking about someone they had lost, not 20 years ago, but the previous day. Once in Bengaluru I got a call from an Urdu writer for his script 'Resham ki Dor' and he said it was a classic play. Through them I discovered Baba’s personality and started working for theatre.

What were the high points during the ten years of the festival?

The high point is for a son to discover his father through theatre, with each show. Whenever I perform, I feel like I am around him. When you get the standing ovations, you feel that you are receiving a true gift as a spectrum artist.

What are your future plans?

We have many festival invites in line like, ‘The Baig Retrospective’ in London where ‘Quli: Dilon ka Shahzaada’ will have its 25th performance in London. We also have one in Delhi’s India Habitat Center and Mumbai’s NCPA festival, among others.

By:Askari Jaffer