Habib Tanvir: The theatre legend
The 86 year stalwart Habib Tanvir worked till his last days, followed his passion to glory and never settled for less than he could dream of. In any culture and in any age it is rare for a person to become a legend in his own lifetime.
HABIB AHMAD Khan was born on September 1, 1923, at Raipur. His immediate family was town based, some of his uncles were land owners and he got chance to visit countryside often. As a child he too had several opportunities to visit villages where he got the chance to listen to the music and songs of local people. Here, he developed passion to later become a trend setter.
He passed his matric from Laurie Municipal School, Raipur and obtained bachelor’s degree from Maurice College Nagpur (1944). For post graduation he moved to Aligarh and took admission in Aligarh Muslim University. As a post graduate student, Habib developed interest for writing. He started with poetry under pen name ‘Tanvir’. He later moved to Mumbai to join All India Radio (AIR), Indian People’s Theater Association (IPTA) and Progressive Writers Association (PWA).To pursue his theatrical interest Habib shifted base to Delhi. He joined Qudsia Zaidi Hindustani Theater Group. Habib Tanvir’s creativity scaled new heights.
At Delhi where Habib Tanvir began his carrier, the theatrical scene was dominated by collegiate drama groups and amateur artists. They were offering plays in English and vernacular translation only with great sign of European influence. They derived their concept of theater, acting standards, staging and others from European models of later 19th and 20th century.
Earlier to ‘Agra Bazar’, there was little effort to link theater work to native traditions of performance with immediate value to Indian audience. Agra Bazar, first major play of its kind broke the mold and offered a truly native experience.
Agra Bazar is based on the works and times of 18th century poet Nazir Akbarabadi. Habib Tanvir’s twin interest in poetry and music found its major expression on stage with Agra Bazaar. Tanvir in his highly expressive and interesting artistic strategy put ‘Agra Bazar’ n an entertaining plot.
Soon after this production, Tanvir went to England where he spent over three years studying theater at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and Bristol Old Vic Theater School. He also travelled extensively through Europe, watching theater. He spent about eight months in Berlin in 1956, and saw several recent productions by great Bertolt Brecht.
Tanvir began his long exploration for an Indian performance idiom and conceived a traditional Chattisgarhi art forms and techniques. He called on folk artists of his region to give way to traditional forms in ‘Mitti ki Gadi’. ‘Mitti ki Gadi’ included six folk artists, thereby giving the play a distinctively Indian look.
Considered by many as one of the best modern renderings of shudraksha’s Mrichkatikam Mitti ki Gadi convinced Tanvir that the style and techniques of the Sanskrit playwrights can be accessed through folk traditions. Mitti ki Gadi and Visakhdutta-Mudraksha are practical demonstrations of the fact.
While working with folk actors, Habib Tanvir was not fully satisfied about the output. Searching for the best appropriate result explored faults in his approach with traditional artists.
Succeeding in search Habib Tanvir initiated the method of ‘improvisations’ and allowed folk actors to speak in their native Chattisgarhi dialect. For the best, he allowed them to do their own traditional pieces in their own way. ‘Gaon Ka Naam Sasural Mor Naam Damaad’, a great success not only in Chattisgarh but also in Delhi. The play turned out be a significant turning point in the visionary’s carrier graph. By the time of ‘Charandas Chor’ (1975), the Habib Tanvir Theater in its form and style had reached its perfection.
Habib Tanvir’s fascination with the ‘folk’ is not motivated by restoration or an old-fashioned impulse. It is based, instead on familiarity, the tremendous creative possibilities and artistic energies inherent in traditional forms. His theater does not belong to any one form/tradition in its completeness. He insisted for folk performers who brought their own forms and styles with them. Habib Tanvir production involves cast of actors capable of singing and dancing. His project from the beginning has been to harness elements of folk as vehicle to produce theater with a touch of soil.
Habib Tanvir was the first to meld the Chhattisgarhi,Pandavni and Nacha folk dance song forms of his region in his theater, bringing urban and rural actors in one single production. Tanvir explored content from Sanskrit drama, Shakespeare to tribal folk themes and contemporary European satire.
Habib Tanvir’s urban, modern reflections and the folk styles and traditional folk forms is perhaps best illustrated by the songs in his plays such as ‘Kamdeo Ka Apna, Basant Ritu Ka Sapna (A Midsummer’s Night Dream)’ and ‘Shaajapur Ki Shantibai (The Good Woman of Szechwan)’ could not be possible without this interaction.
The native folk touch in his compositions provides an original and authentic freshness to Tanvir’s poetry. One of the notable citations of this kind of interaction is ‘Dekh Rahe Hain Nain’, an adaptation to Stephen Zweig’s story. The play is about a warrior exponent embarked by moral dilemma. While adapting the original story Tanvir has went beyond and invented fresh characters, events, situations, dimensions.
Habib Tanvir’s theater offered a harmony of tradition and modernity. He dealt folk creativity skillfully and at the same time let modern analytical reasoning glow.
Tanvir is quite careful not to create a hierarchy educated consciousness as over the unschooled creativity of his actors. In his work, the two usually meet and interpenetrate, as equal partners in a collective, collaborative endeavour.
Tanvir’s theater offers an incisive blend of tradition and modernity, folk creativity and skills on the one hand, and modern critical consciousness on the other.
His occasional productions outside his home production group such as Enemies (maxim Gorky-NSD) or Jisne Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamia Nahin (Asghar Wajahat Sri Ram Center Repertory) are marked by the style that he developed through his work with the folk artists. Habib Tanvir had special liking for popular traditions and upheld traditional art forms. There is a close connection between his special liking for popular traditions and his left wing characteristic. Habib Tanvir’s work has no categorical and additional hierarchy of actors. It is to be stated here that there is no difference of positional rankings between educated sensitivity of visionary and unschooled talent of actors.
His participation with the Left-wing cultural movement suggests his commitment to the common people and their causes. Tanvir content, style, production reflects a larger socialist project of empowerment to people.
Habib Tanvir’s open approach to culture was shaped by crucible of the Left-wing cultural movement particularly Indian People’s Theater Association (IPTA) and Progressive Writers Association (PWA).
Naya Theater
Habib Tanvir and wife Monika Mishra (herself a theater personality) founded a company of their own in 1959, and called it ‘Naya Theater’ The company produced number of plays including modern and ancient classics of India and Europe. Post independence, the country was rife with new ideas, new thoughts and writings. Indian theater was in the grip of a colonial hangover. Naya Theater offered Indian audiences a truly Indian experience on stage.
As one of the pioneers of folk forms and traditions of performance, Habib Tanvir’s approach to folk is in contrast to others in contemporary theater. In popular mind, the name of Habib Tanvir is closely associated to the idea of folk. Considering position and identity of folk theater forms, Tanvir’s efforts made it a known object. When he began his carrier, folk had not yet become a major pre-occupation in theater practices. So, folk as theatrical act can be said to have come into being with Habib Tanvir. His contribution to theater such as: Shatranj Ki Mohre, Lala Sohrat Rai, Agra Bazar,Mitti ki Gadi, Gaon Ka Naam Sasural Mor Naam Damaad, Charandas Chor, Bahadur Kalarin, Ponga Pandit, Jisne lahore Nahi Dekhya, Kamdeo Ka Apna Vasant Ritu Ka Sapna, Visarjan and Rajrakt are a testimonial to the greatness of legend.
He lived a full life, worked till his last days, followed his passion to glory and never settled for less than he could dream of. In any culture and in any age it is rare for a person to become a legend in his own lifetime. The 86 year stalwart of contemporary theater attained this distinction in his lifetime.
At Delhi where Habib Tanvir began his carrier, the theatrical scene was dominated by collegiate drama groups and amateur artists. They were offering plays in English and vernacular translation only with great sign of European influence. They derived their concept of theater, acting standards, staging and others from European models of later 19th and 20th century.
Earlier to ‘Agra Bazar’, there was little effort to link theater work to native traditions of performance with immediate value to Indian audience. Agra Bazar, first major play of its kind broke the mold and offered a truly native experience.
Agra Bazar is based on the works and times of 18th century poet Nazir Akbarabadi. Habib Tanvir’s twin interest in poetry and music found its major expression on stage with Agra Bazaar. Tanvir in his highly expressive and interesting artistic strategy put ‘Agra Bazar’ n an entertaining plot.
Soon after this production, Tanvir went to England where he spent over three years studying theater at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and Bristol Old Vic Theater School. He also travelled extensively through Europe, watching theater. He spent about eight months in Berlin in 1956, and saw several recent productions by great Bertolt Brecht.
Tanvir began his long exploration for an Indian performance idiom and conceived a traditional Chattisgarhi art forms and techniques. He called on folk artists of his region to give way to traditional forms in ‘Mitti ki Gadi’. ‘Mitti ki Gadi’ included six folk artists, thereby giving the play a distinctively Indian look.
Considered by many as one of the best modern renderings of shudraksha’s Mrichkatikam Mitti ki Gadi convinced Tanvir that the style and techniques of the Sanskrit playwrights can be accessed through folk traditions. Mitti ki Gadi and Visakhdutta-Mudraksha are practical demonstrations of the fact.
While working with folk actors, Habib Tanvir was not fully satisfied about the output. Searching for the best appropriate result explored faults in his approach with traditional artists.
Succeeding in search Habib Tanvir initiated the method of ‘improvisations’ and allowed folk actors to speak in their native Chattisgarhi dialect. For the best, he allowed them to do their own traditional pieces in their own way. ‘Gaon Ka Naam Sasural Mor Naam Damaad’, a great success not only in Chattisgarh but also in Delhi. The play turned out be a significant turning point in the visionary’s carrier graph. By the time of ‘Charandas Chor’ (1975), the Habib Tanvir Theater in its form and style had reached its perfection.
Habib Tanvir’s fascination with the ‘folk’ is not motivated by restoration or an old-fashioned impulse. It is based, instead on familiarity, the tremendous creative possibilities and artistic energies inherent in traditional forms. His theater does not belong to any one form/tradition in its completeness. He insisted for folk performers who brought their own forms and styles with them. Habib Tanvir production involves cast of actors capable of singing and dancing. His project from the beginning has been to harness elements of folk as vehicle to produce theater with a touch of soil.
Habib Tanvir was the first to meld the Chhattisgarhi,Pandavni and Nacha folk dance song forms of his region in his theater, bringing urban and rural actors in one single production. Tanvir explored content from Sanskrit drama, Shakespeare to tribal folk themes and contemporary European satire.
Habib Tanvir’s urban, modern reflections and the folk styles and traditional folk forms is perhaps best illustrated by the songs in his plays such as ‘Kamdeo Ka Apna, Basant Ritu Ka Sapna (A Midsummer’s Night Dream)’ and ‘Shaajapur Ki Shantibai (The Good Woman of Szechwan)’ could not be possible without this interaction.
The native folk touch in his compositions provides an original and authentic freshness to Tanvir’s poetry. One of the notable citations of this kind of interaction is ‘Dekh Rahe Hain Nain’, an adaptation to Stephen Zweig’s story. The play is about a warrior exponent embarked by moral dilemma. While adapting the original story Tanvir has went beyond and invented fresh characters, events, situations, dimensions.
Habib Tanvir’s theater offered a harmony of tradition and modernity. He dealt folk creativity skillfully and at the same time let modern analytical reasoning glow.
Tanvir is quite careful not to create a hierarchy educated consciousness as over the unschooled creativity of his actors. In his work, the two usually meet and interpenetrate, as equal partners in a collective, collaborative endeavour.
Tanvir’s theater offers an incisive blend of tradition and modernity, folk creativity and skills on the one hand, and modern critical consciousness on the other.
His occasional productions outside his home production group such as Enemies (maxim Gorky-NSD) or Jisne Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamia Nahin (Asghar Wajahat Sri Ram Center Repertory) are marked by the style that he developed through his work with the folk artists. Habib Tanvir had special liking for popular traditions and upheld traditional art forms. There is a close connection between his special liking for popular traditions and his left wing characteristic. Habib Tanvir’s work has no categorical and additional hierarchy of actors. It is to be stated here that there is no difference of positional rankings between educated sensitivity of visionary and unschooled talent of actors.
His participation with the Left-wing cultural movement suggests his commitment to the common people and their causes. Tanvir content, style, production reflects a larger socialist project of empowerment to people.
Habib Tanvir’s open approach to culture was shaped by crucible of the Left-wing cultural movement particularly Indian People’s Theater Association (IPTA) and Progressive Writers Association (PWA).
Naya Theater
Habib Tanvir and wife Monika Mishra (herself a theater personality) founded a company of their own in 1959, and called it ‘Naya Theater’ The company produced number of plays including modern and ancient classics of India and Europe. Post independence, the country was rife with new ideas, new thoughts and writings. Indian theater was in the grip of a colonial hangover. Naya Theater offered Indian audiences a truly Indian experience on stage.
As one of the pioneers of folk forms and traditions of performance, Habib Tanvir’s approach to folk is in contrast to others in contemporary theater. In popular mind, the name of Habib Tanvir is closely associated to the idea of folk. Considering position and identity of folk theater forms, Tanvir’s efforts made it a known object. When he began his carrier, folk had not yet become a major pre-occupation in theater practices. So, folk as theatrical act can be said to have come into being with Habib Tanvir. His contribution to theater such as: Shatranj Ki Mohre, Lala Sohrat Rai, Agra Bazar,Mitti ki Gadi, Gaon Ka Naam Sasural Mor Naam Damaad, Charandas Chor, Bahadur Kalarin, Ponga Pandit, Jisne lahore Nahi Dekhya, Kamdeo Ka Apna Vasant Ritu Ka Sapna, Visarjan and Rajrakt are a testimonial to the greatness of legend.
He lived a full life, worked till his last days, followed his passion to glory and never settled for less than he could dream of. In any culture and in any age it is rare for a person to become a legend in his own lifetime. The 86 year stalwart of contemporary theater attained this distinction in his lifetime.
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