A special cover on late Qadir Ali Baig and a brilliant monologue by Rashmi Seth marked the 10th anniversary of the Foundation

It was indeed an honour for theatre fraternity when a special postal cover was released on June 3, at Salarjung Museum, in memory of Qader Ali Baig on the occasion of his 30th death anniversary.

The occasion of the launch of the Special Cover was also to mark ten years of the Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation.

Director of Postal Services, Radhika Chakravarthy said, “India Post honours famous personalities whose contribution is exemplary and it is a befitting tribute to late Mirza Qadir Ali Baig sahab.”

Acknowledging the unique honour, Mohammad Ali Baig said, “This tribute would provide further inspiration and motivation to us as well as rest of the country’s theatre fraternity.”

Play by Rashmi Seth

The event was followed by a moving performance by veteran actress Rashmi Seth in the play Dhoop ka Tukda , which had the packed audience follow her in total silence. Seth acted in late Qadir Ali Baig’s several socially-meaningful plays in the 1970s and 80s like Aadhey Adhurey , Burf ki Minaar and has also featured in Mohammad Ali Baig’s epic spectacles Resham ki Dor , Taramati , Quli: Dilon ka Shahzaada and Savaan-e-Hayat . Her performance was an apt tribute to the doyen.

Dhoop ka Tukda , written by Nirmal Verma, is about a woman, separated from her husband, dwelling on her pathos, memories, the trials and tribulations in her life and her search for hope. Rashmi Seth excelled in the 40-minute monologue, maintaining the walk and body language of an aged, arthritis-afflicted woman who has gone through a lot in life, her tremulous voice modulation bringing out her misery evocatively. Subhash Gupta as the silent man in the park spoke with his expressions, though immersed all the time reading a newspaper. The play was produced by Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation and directed by Rashmi Seth.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / June 06th, 2014