Poetry: Spiritual and TerreneBy Syed Afsar Sajid1. ‘Luhu Lal Ghari: (Marsiye)’ by Iqtidar Javed2. ‘Bay Baal-o-Par’ by Prof.

For her, Hyderabad is not just another venue, it’s a city that truly values Urdu poetry, ghazals and good music. With personal ties and childhood friends here, performing in Hyderabad feels special.

Shahid Alam and I go back a long way, though we had both half-forgotten it until recently. He was two years senior to me at ...

Do you know how many languages are officially recognised by the constitution of India? India officially recognises 22 languages under the Constitution. Learn about these languages, where they are ...

To watch the restored Umrao Jaan is to open an old chest stuffed with barely creased clothing and baubles that are still ...

Muzaffar Ali reflects on his artistic journey with Umrao Jaan, emphasising the importance of faith and cultural understanding ...

Together, these programs ensure that Urdu is not just preserved – it is activated, performed, shared, and celebrated. Far from being forgotten, the ghazal is finding new resonance as both timeless ...

Can a culture survive as a way of life, even as the language and writing at its core, alter with time? Can we be rational and Malayalee or do we have to necessarily be religious and proudly cultural ...

Unlike other famous courtesans of Hindi cinema and literature, Umrao Jan’s story has been revisited time and again over the ...

Muzaffar Ali’s version featuring Rekha in the title role, begins with little Ameeran in Faizabad abducted to Lucknow to be moulded and shaped into a perfect tawaif, and ends with Umrao grown from the ...

Muzaffar Ali is a man who wears several hats. The filmmaker, designer, author, artist, and a cultural and social activist, ...