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"blending activism and filmmaking"
anand
patwardhan

AN EVENING WITH
SHAHID NADEEM

Live theater, screenings and discussion with the activist playwright, TV producer, and co-founder of Lahore's Ajoka Theater Group

a live performance directed by Vidhu Singh
and performed by Bay area artists

bulha
(English, with poetry in Punjabi)

An acclaimed play on the life of Baba Bulleh Shah (1680-1758), a Sufi whose poetry & ecstatic compositions continue to be immensely popular

Written By Shahid Nadeem
Directed by Madeeha Gauhar

also featuring:
selected scenes from

mujahid - the holy warrior (2003)
Screened at the Festival de Cine de Granada, 2003

Written and Directed by
Shahid Nadeem

Bulha [2001]
(English, with poetry in Punjabi)

Bulha is a fictionalized account of the life of Baba Bulleh Shah (1680-1758), a Sufi mystic whose poetry and ecstatic compositions are still immensely popular.

Bulha lived in Punjab during a time of great turmoil, coincident with the decline of the Mughal empire and preceding the rise of the Sikh kingdoms. Preaching a message of tolerance and championing the causes of the downtrodden, especially women, Bulha incurred the wrath of the clergy and the rulers of the day.

The English version of this much-acclaimed play by Shahid Nadeem, preserves the original Punjabi renderings of Bulha's most moving poetry.

About This Performance
The live enactment features selected scenes from this play. It is performed by artistes from the SF Bay Area, and this performance is directed by Vidhu Singh. A theater director and scholar, she currently teaches multicultural drama at Foothill College, and free-lances as a director.

Mujahid [2003] Screened at the Festival de Cine de Granada, 2003
The evening will feature a screening of selected scenes from "Mujahid", one of Shahid Nadeem's most recent works. It provides a unique angle to the much-talked-about theme of "Jehad" and jehadis, and explores how social and societal circumstances in Pakistan lead youth to become pawns in the hands of "jehadi recruiting teams". The question of who is a shaheed (martyr) and who is waging real jehad (holy war) is posed by a group of street youth and it is left to the audience to make up their mind.

Shahid Nadeem is a leading Pakistani playwright and theater director who has worked for nearly three decades with the theater company Ajoka ("of today" in Punjabi). His many, varied and much-acclaimed works span various themes including human rights and women's rights, social change, and the struggle for a secular, humane, just and egalitarian society in Pakistan and in all of South Asia. Shahid and his theater group have been at the forefront of the movement to develop people-to-people contacts between India and Pakistan. Shahid and Ajoka theater have traveled to and performed in various parts of India to diverse audiences, and his works have been quite well-received there.

Organized by Friends of South Asia, in association with Ekta

Friday May 21, 7pm
Mehran Restaurant [map]
5774 Mowry School Rd
Newark, CA 94560

tickets

regular tickets: $25
(includes show and dinner).
Buy ONLINE or at the DOOR.
Kids under 12 go free.

student tickets: $15
(includes show and dinner).
Buy ONLINE or at the DOOR.

Organized by Friends of South Asia,
in association with Ekta