Upcoming fest to celebrate the timeless glory of Urdu

Over 100 distinguished writers, poets, artists, singers and acclaimed personalities from the Urdu fraternity, including celebrated lyricist Gulzar and Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, are all set to participate in an upcoming Urdu festival here in the Capital to celebrate the timeless glory of the ancient language.

The upcoming third edition of Jashn-e-Rekhta, a unique festival celebrating the timeless eloquence of Urdu, is slated to take place between February 17 and 19 at the Indira Gandhi International Centre for the Arts here.

In one of the most anticipated sessions Gulzar will be in a conversation with noted lyricist Javed Siddiqui and will talk about literary creations being the dreams of their writers. Annu Kapoor will add warmth to the evening with "Urdu Suroñ ka Mausam-e-Bahaar".

To add to the spirit of the festivities, the festival will host a Sufi evening with Hans Raj Hans and a qawwali performance by Dhruv Sangari. A panel discussion on the old and forgotten practices and forms of theatre will witness the presence of the inimitable actor Saurabh Shukla.

Prasoon Joshi is also set to discuss the presence of Urdu in Bollywood lyrics and how the language helped him expand his literary expression. Javed Siddiqui and Prem Chopra, along with Bhawana Somaaya will share the stage to narrate the journey of Urdu over the years of evolution of the Indian cinema.

In a bid to "engage, enlighten and entertain audiences from diverse background," the festival is a free public event, accessible to all.

The festival is organised by the Rekhta foundation, that curates the largest online repository of Urdu poetry in the world on www.rekhta.org.

--IANS

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