''Tumhari Amrita'' is an

epistolary Epistolary means "relating to an epistle or letter". It may refer to: * Epistolary (), a Christian liturgical book containing set readings for church services from the New Testament Epistles * Epistolary novel, a novel written as a series of lette ...

play directed by

Feroz Abbas Khan Feroz Abbas Khan is an Indian theatre and film director, playwright and screenwriter, who is most known for directing plays like Mughal-e-Azam, ''Saalgirah'', '' Tumhari Amrita'' (1992), ''Salesman Ramlal'' and ''Gandhi Viruddh Gandhi''. Ca ...

. Its original cast includes

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Her career in the Hindi cinema, Hindi film industry has spanned Shabana Azmi filmography, over 160 films, mostly within independent and neorealist paral ...

and

Farooq Shaikh Farooq Sheikh (25 March 1948 − 28 December 2013) was an Indian actor, philanthropist and television presenter. He was best known for his work in Hindi films from 1973 to 1993 and for his work in television between 1988 and 2002. He returned to ...

.With Love, Tumhari Amrita
''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'', Feb 2, 2011, It is an Indian context adaptation of A. R. Gurney's American play, ''

Love Letters A love letter is a romantic way to express feelings of love in written form. Love Letter(s) or The Love Letter may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Love Letters'' (1917 film), an American drama silent film * ''Love Letters'' ( ...

'' (1988), and the Hindi/Urdu version was created in 1992 by playwright

Javed Siddiqui Javed Siddiqui (born 13 January 1942) is a Hindi and Urdu screenwriter, dialogue writer and playwright from India. He has written over 50 storylines, screenplays and dialogues. During his career, Siddiqi has collaborated with some of India's m ...

. After its première at

Prithvi Theatre Prithvi Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre located in the upscale neighbourhood of Juhu, Mumbai. Prithviraj Kapoor the spearhead of one of the most influential actor and director families in Bollywood, the Kapoor family, founded the trave ...

, Mumbai on 27 February 1992, it has been staged at venues across India, Europe, Middle East, US and Pakistan. The story of unrequited love is read out through reams of love letters between Amrita Nigam and Zulfikar Haider, exchanged over 35 years, starting with Amrita's eighth birthday party in the 1940s, when she first wrote to the ten-year-old Zulfi.

Development

Following productions of ''The Royal Hunt of the Sun'' (1991), ''All the Best'', and ''Eva Mumbai Ma Chaal Jaiye''

read Pulitzer Prize-nominated ''

'', (1988) by A. R. Gurney. In 1991 Feroz met Guerney in Mumbai, and the producer started working on the play. Feroz approached playwright and screenwriter

to work on script. Siddiqui in turn also liked the play and wrote it as a new play, set in Indian context to be produced under the banner of Javed Siddiqui Productions.

and Farooque Shaikh agreed to play the leads.Writing its own destiny

Screen (magazine) ''Screen'' is an Indian weekly film magazine published by Indian Express Limited. Established in 1951, it was owned by The Indian Express Group. The magazine was acquired by Star India in 2015 and subsequently ceased publication. It was rela ...

, Namita Nivas, Nov 28, 2008. The central character of Amrita is based on bohemian Indian painter

Amrita Sher-Gil Amrita Sher-Gil (30 January 1913 – 5 December 1941) was a Hungarian–Indian painter. She has been called "one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century" and a pioneer in modern Indian art. Drawn to painting from an ...

(1913–1941).

Staging history

''Tumhari Amrita'' made its début at the Jennifer Kapoor Festival held at

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

on 27 February 1992, under the direction of

, as tribute to

Jennifer Kapoor Jennifer Kendal Kapoor (28 February 1933 – 7 September 1984) was an English actress and the founder of the Prithvi Theatre. She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the film ''36 Chowringhee Lane'' (1981). H ...

on her birthday. As per the direction, the actors do not memorize the script but read out the letters kept on their writing desks throughout the performance. The play lasts 1 hour and 30 minutes. Director Feroz Khan was initially apprehensive about its popularity, feeling that the work was experimental for mass audiences. Its stupendous success came as a surprise to the creative team as well. Tumhari Amrita has since toured the world, including US, Europe and Pakistan, performing over 300 shows and acquired a cult status. The February 2006 shows, in Karachi and Islamabad in Pakistan, were performed to raise money for earthquake victims. In a 2009 interview,

said, "Amrita is the character I've enjoyed playing the most in my entire career." The play returned to Prithvi Theatre in November 2010 during the eight-day festival of 'Jana Natya Manch' (Janam), a theatre company set up by Safdar Hashmi. The play celebrated its 20-year anniversary with a full house performance at Bandra Fort in Mumbai. The last staging of this show was in the quadrangle of the historic

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

in Agra on 14 December 2013. It was the first time a performance was held in the quadrangle of the historic monument to love. The performance received a warm standing ovation.

Reception

After its 2006 performance in Pakistan, leading daily ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'', ran a headline, "Shabana, Farooque Enthral Audience", while another ''

Daily Times ''Daily Times'' may refer to the following national newspapers: * ''Daily Times'' (Nigeria), newspaper published in Nigeria * ''Daily Times'' (Pakistan), newspaper published in Pakistan ''The Daily Times'' may refer to the following newspapers: * ...

'' feature on the play said "From India with Love".

Legacy

After the success of ''Tumhari Amrita'', the sequel ''Aapki Soniya,'' also written by Javed Siddiqui, had its premiere at

, Juhu, on September 28, 2004. It was directed by Salim Arif and lead roles performed by

Sonali Bendre Sonali Bendre Behl (born 1 January 1975), known professionally as Sonali Bendre, is an Indian actress predominantly known for her work in Hindi and Telugu films. Considered as one of the leading actresses of the 1990s and early 2000s, Bendre s ...

and

Farooque Shaikh Farooq Sheikh (25 March 1948 − 28 December 2013) was an Indian actor, philanthropist and television presenter. He was best known for his work in Hindi films from 1973 to 1993 and for his work in television between 1988 and 2002. He returned to ...

. The play was also adopted in 1998 in

Marathi language Marathi (; , 𑘦𑘨𑘰𑘙𑘲, , ) is a Classical languages of India, classical Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra and is also spoken in Goa, and parts of Guj ...

as ''Prempatra'' (''Love Letter'') and was directed by Waman Kendre with

Neena Kulkarni Neena Kulkarni (née Joshi) is an Indian actress who is known for her work on Marathi and Hindi films, television and stage productions. She has received several awards including a National Film Award, Maharashtra State Film Awards and three F ...

playing the lead role.

References

External links

''Tumhari Amrita''
at

website * {{cite news , title=Shreya Ray, A love letter to Indian theatre: ‘Tumhari Amrita’ completes 20 years.., url=http://www.livemint.com/2012/03/02213215/A-love-letter-to-Indian-theatr.html , newspaper= Mint newspaper , date=March 2, 2012 Indian plays 1992 plays Plays based on other plays Urdu-language plays Hindi-language literature Works about painters Hindi theatre