Man behind the mellifluous voice: Based on his grand-niece’s book, a ‘stage documentary’ brings alive glimpses of singer Talat Mahmood’s life
R Umamaheshwari
Hostel nights in our times in JNU, Delhi, were incomplete without the quintessential radio. And Akashvani was incomplete without at least one number by this singer. There was something about the lilt in Talat Mahmood’s voice: it wafted through even the torrid summers like the fragrance of fresh jasmine flowers blossoming somewhere in the vicinity. Angst (‘Ae mere dil kahin aur chal’), melancholy (‘Shaam e gham ki kasam aaj ghamgeen hain hum’; ‘Yeh hawa yeh raat ye chaandni’), young romantic longing (‘Tum to dil ke taar chhed kar, ho gaye bekhabar’) and many other emotions found expression in his Hindi film songs. Of course, Talat also sang several Bangla film songs as ‘Tapan Kumar’.
It is summer once again, and Talat’s voice reverberated on June 21 at the premiere of a ‘stage documentary’ at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi, even as glimpses of his life were brought alive. Titled ‘Talat Mahmood: Superstar Singer, Reluctant Actor’, based on Sahar Zaman’s book by the same name, this is a joint production of the Three Arts Club and Katyayani Walking Art Production.
For Three Arts Club, it is a “double celebration”, says Anuradha Kaul (the producer), as “we complete our 81st year during Mahmood’s centenary this year; besides, Talat and our group had come together for a private concert way back in the 1960s”. The author, Sahar, Talat’s grand-niece, also spoke at the end of the show.
“With this, we are trying a new format; we are using most of the art forms to tell his story,” says director Sohaila Kapur: “There are actors narrating, or performing, his life, and speaking in different voices of the people in his life. We also have an actor playing Talat. There will be a video projection of his songs filmed on actors of his times. There’s also choreography and dance,” she adds.
Why did she choose this book? Kapur says, “I have known Sahar for some years. I have read the book, too; in fact, when she produced ‘Jashn-e-Talat’, I was her first narrator. We started off as dramatised readings. We wanted to introduce good literature. We’ve done 21 writers and playwrights, like Mahasweta Devi, Badal Sircar, Girish Karnad, Habib Tanveer, Mahesh Dattani, Neel Chowdhary, Apoorva Naresh, Abhishek Majumdar and others.”
Later, says Kapur, they thought of introducing books and non-fiction. It started off with actor Parikshit Sahni’s book (‘Strange Encounters: Adventures of a Curious Life’) about his days as a student in USSR. “With that book, you are also learning about Communist Russia, something not many young people know about. We did three chapters and it was a great success. We did all these shows at the Habitat Centre, which gave us one day in a month for dramatised readings. We have a uniform for performers — blue jeans and a black T-shirt. There are no lights or props. The actors involve the audience. I have been pushing the envelope; I started using sound, such as a clap of thunder, for instance. I have a classical dancer who introduces the evening with a relevant dance piece. Then there was a classical singer who would introduce the theme through a raga. Gradually, Talat happened and I knew this needed multiple art forms, with four or five actors telling the story, projections, dance and singing,” adds Kapur.
Will they be taking this production elsewhere? She says, “We want to see the response first. In Shimla, we will be staging Manav Kaul’s ‘Park’ in September at Gaiety. But we are open to doing the Talat production in Shimla, should an offer come.”
What can people take from Talat Mahmood’s persona? Kapur responds in a jiffy: “His humility and the warmth of his personality.” As for the book, she feels Sahar has written it “very well; with the warmth expected of a grand-niece and admiration for him as a great artist”.
