Ismat Apa Ke Naam is a celebrated production by The Motley group. Veteran thespian, Naseeruddin Shah, recreated Ismat Chughtai’s wonderful stories on stage. Ismat Apa Ke Naam is a collection of three stories by the author — Chhui Muee, Mughal Bachcha, and Gharwali. Theatre veterans Ratna Pathak Shah, Heeba Shah and the director himself are amongst the cast. Renowned director-musician Vishal Bhardwaj composed the music for this play. Presented by City Bank, Blues Communications is organizing the play.
So, Who Was Ismat Chughtai?
She is one of the revolutionary 20th century writers of Urdu fiction.
She wrote some genuine and controversial stories regarding pre-independence India. Her stories mostly dealt with feminine sexuality and the turmoil of the Muslim middle class.
Ismat Chughtai has been hailed as one of the four pillars of the Urdu feminist-reformist movement along with Rashid Jahan, Wajeda Tabassum and Qurratulain Hyder.
Chughtai studied at Aligarh Muslim University. She was the first Indian Muslim woman to have earned both BA and BEd (a Bachelor’s in Education).
Chughtai’s most acclaimed short story, Lihaaf (The Quilt) published in 1942, was leveled with charges of obscenity and she was summoned by the Lahore court in 1944. However, she chose to contest the case and later won it. Lihaaf deals with homosexuality.
Ismat Chughtai was a lifelong practicing liberal. In her own words, she comes from a family of “Hindus, Muslims and Christians who all lived peacefully.”
