street theatre

The Journey of ‘Halla Bol: The Death and Life of Safdar Hashmi’, Part 3

As he lay agonising over the nearly-finished manuscript, Sudhanva would share, every now and then, nuggets from the Janam photo archive. Read on. There’s a lot here that didn’t make it into the final text. (Click on the sub-heads to see individual Facebook posts.) Halla Bol: The Death and Life of Safdar Hashmi will be out on January 1, 2020. Do join us for the book launch at Jhandapur that day. << Part 1 – The Journey of ‘Halla Bol’ | Part 2 – The Journey of ‘Halla Bol’[...]

The Journey of ‘Halla Bol: The Death and Life of Safdar Hashmi’, Part 2

As the book begins to take shape, as much in the author’s mind as on paper, we keep satiating our curiosity with these highlights from the life of Safdar – actor, activist, man of letters. Read on. There’s a lot here that didn’t make it into the final text. (Click on the sub-heads to see individual Facebook posts.) Halla Bol: The Death and Life of Safdar Hashmi will be out on January 1, 2020. Do join us for the book launch at Jhandapur that day. << Part 1 – The Journey of ‘H[...]

The Journey of ‘Halla Bol: The Death and Life of Safdar Hashmi’, Part 1

It was towards the end of July that the author, serial hashtagger and indulgent ‘Boss’, Sudhanva Deshpande, began sharing updates on the book’s progress on Facebook. Occupied with all kinds of tasks at LeftWord, Vaam Prakashan, and Studio Safdar – over and above the writing of the book – he could hardly be expected to sit down and talk to us about it. These updates were all we had as we grew more and more impatient. Read on. There’s a lot here that didn’t make it into the final te[...]

Remembering Safdar: his life and his legacy as a voice of resistance

“So you missed the demolition of the Babri Masjid And the violence and hate that followedYou missed Ramabai and other Dalit massacresYou missed your nation’s love for the atom bombIn 2002, you missed the Gujarat pogromAnd in neighbouring Pakistan you missedThe creation of the Taliban and hereThis year you missed the coronation of killers We who survived you missed none of theseWe missed you.”- Anand Patwardhan 29 years ago, on 1st January 1989, Safdar Hashmi, one of the founding mem[...]