Madeeha Gauhar Festival concluded with brilliant performance of Sufi play “BULHA”

Lahore (Qasim Ali)

Ajoka theatre’s 3 day “Madeeha Gauhar festival” concluded with an exciting performance of Punjabi Play “Bulha” here at Alhamra hall 2 , Mall road Lahore on Saturday evening. The festival proved an enormous success as all three performances received overwhelming response from the audience. In the concluding ceremony Lahore Arts Council Cap ® Atta Muhammad, Faryal Gauhar, Nirvaan Nadeem and Sarang Nadeem also paid homage and tributes to theatre Icon Madeeha Gauhar.

Written by Shahid Nadeem the play was inspired by historical events occurred in the era of great Sufi Poet Baba Bulleh Shah and highlights the message of peace, tolerance and religious harmony. The play got outstanding response from a large appreciative audience. The cast of the play included Naseem Abass, Usman Raj, Kamran Mujahid, Nayab Faiza, Sibt-e-Hasan, Qaisar khan, Bilal Mughal and Usman Choudhry who performed their roles with great command and perfection.

Directed by Ajoka’s artistic director Madeeha Gauhar (Late) the play gave an insight about life events of Bulleh shah as communicated through his poetry, historical records and popular myths. Bulleh Shah (1680-1758) lived in the times of downfall of the Mughal Empire, characterized by conflicts, rebellions, civil & religious strife and ideological and political chaos. The play reveals all such historical references and Bulleh Shah’s famous poetry have also been used to enrich the production.

Ajoka’a executive director Shahid Nadeem thanked the audience for the love and support which they offered to the great theatre legend (Madeeha Gauhar) and said Ajoka vows to carry on Madeeha’s proud legacy to promote social justice, human rights and peace in our country through meaningful theatre productions. He added that Bulha had widely been performed in Pakistan, India, Middle East, Denmark and other countries as well and it’s  Ajoka’s tribute to mystic legend whose became beacon of hope and humanism in his respective time span.

The three day festival started with the picture exhibition entitled “Madeeha Gauhar Retrospect” in Alhamra Art gallery on September 27th followed by performance of Seraiki play “Kala Meda Bhes” in Alhamra Hall 2. Ajoka team performed cultural play “Lo phir basant ayee” to a packed house as well.