"Marhoom ki Yaad Mein – Irshad Panjatan ki Zabani" (a humorous storytelling), at Lamakaan, on Tuesday, 5th January, 2016, at 8 PM.

The man who was solely responsible for bringing mime to India during the 1960s, the veteran theatre & mime artiste Irshad Panjatan, has returned to his hometown Hyderabad.

Trained in Kathakali under Raghavan Nair and Narendra Sharma, Irshad Panjatan started his career as an actor with the Hindustani Theatre – the theatre group of Begum Qudsia Zaidi. In 1957, he enacted a scene without any dialogues in the play ‘Charudatta’, which ignited his curiosity for pantomine. He performed his first mime play in 1962, in Delhi, introducing mime theatre to India, which earned him wide acclaim. He also acted in a few Bollywood films during this period, including K.A. Abbas’ “Saat Hindustani” (1969).

Although trained in the ‘Marcel Marceau’ style of mime, he soon developed his individualistic style and language, and soon started touring with his solo mime act. He then left India to tour West Asian and European countries. After leaving India, he first performed at the Lahore Women’s College, and eventually settled down in Germany, and has continued performing as a solo artiste ever since. He has acted in German and Hollywood films such as ‘Manitou’s Shoe’ (2001), ‘God is No Soprano’ (2003), ‘Free Rainer’ (2007), and ‘Iron Sky’ (2012). His last mime performance was in December 2008 in Pune, at the annual ‘Theatre Beyond Words’ Festival, where he performed his solo act ‘Walk of Life’.

Sutradhar brought him back to Hyderabad in July 2012, where he gave a lecture and a demonstration on mime, at Lamakaan; and Sutradhar has brought him back to perform his 55 minute solo piece ‘Patras Bookhari ki Yaad Mein. Tickets are Rs. 100/- each.

More information can be found at - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IrshadPanjatan, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PatrasBokhari.

Do not miss the once in a lifetime opportunity to learn from the veritable master of the art form!

Sutradhar also presents a mime workshop with Irshad Panjatan, at Sutradhar premises, on Sunday, 3rd January, 2016 from 10 am to 1 pm. Workshop fees are Rs. 2,000/- per person. To sign up, call/text +91-9848052541/+91-9704518555, or email team@sutradharactors.com.