'Father of Indian theatre' Ebrahim Alkazi dies at 94
New Delhi: Theatre doyen, legendary drama teacher and connoisseur of the arts Ebrahim Alkazi died on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack, his son said. He was 94.
Alkazi, who was the longest-serving director of the National School of Drama and mentored generations of actors, produced plays such as Girish Karnad's "Tughlaq" and Dharamvir Bharati's "Andha Yug".
He is survived by his son Feisal Alkazi and his daughter Amal Allana, both well known theatre directors.
"Dad died this evening at 2.45 pm after a massive heart attack. He was admitted to the Escorts hospital the day before yesterday," his son Feisal told PTI.
Alkazi, who tutored acting greats such as Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri, had been unwell for a few days.
Tributes poured in for the man, who was NSD director from 1962 to 1977, and was described variously as "father of modern Indian theatre" and "last of the Romans".
President Ram Nath Kovind said his death leaves a void in the world of performing arts.
"Ebrahim Alkazi, doyen of Indian theatre, mentored and inspired generations of artists. A Padma Vibhushan recipient, his legacy will live on. My condolences to his family, students and art lovers," the president said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed sadness at Alkazi's demise and said he will be remembered for his efforts to make theatre more popular and accessible across India.
"His contributions to the world of art and culture are noteworthy too. Saddened by his demise. My thoughts are with his family and friends. May his soul rest in peace," Modi said.
The film and theatre industry also mourned the death of the man who strode like the proverbial Colossus across the stage.
"He was the father of modern Indian theatre, he established Indian theatre the way we know it. He only emphasised the importance of training in theatre, if you look at all the famous artists in the country, you will find so many of them were trained under him," said Suresh Sharma, director in-charge of NSD.
"Many like me owe our passion for theatre to this formidably knowledgable man. His contribution to sophistication and polish in staging and imparting a sense of discipline to every aspect of theatre work is unequalled," Naseeruddin Shah told PTI.
Alkazi was the "true renaissance man", "the last Roman", added film and theatre actor Amol Palekar. Palekar's guru, Satyadev Dubey, was trained under Alkazi.
Alkazi sahib was, I can say, the renaissance man in true sense. He was the one who showed us new ways of looking at theatre. I can very well imagine because before he left for Delhi to start the National School of Drama, he was closely connected with the renaissance moment in visual arts, what is known as the Bombay group of M F Hussain, S H Raza, Akbar Padamsee. So his connection, not only with theatre but also with visual arts, was something which gave a different perspective.
"The way he built up the National School of Drama with Nemichand Jain and Shantaben Gandhi. All these people not only built the National School of Drama but a new contemporary theatre culture. And that's his finest contribution. He was the last Roman I would say," Palekar said.
For his contribution to theatre, Alkazi received awards including the Padma Shri in 1966, Padma Bhushan in 1991, and India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2010.
He also received the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1962 for 'Direction', and later honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for his lifetime contribution to theatre.
Apart from revolutionising Indian theatre, Alkazi was also a photography enthusiast, painter and art curator. Alkazi founded the Art Heritage Gallery in Delhi with his wife Roshen Alkazi in 1977.
Remembering Alkazi's connection with visual arts, curator Uma Nair said India has lost "a blue-blooded collector".
"Alkazi was known not just for his visual eye but his mastery over theatre and love for art and photography. His contribution to cultural life of Mumbai and Delhi are equally important. India has lost a blue blooded collector who had a philatelic eye for the best," Nair said.
Theatre director and playwright Danish Iqbal said Alkazi "patronised arts" in India by contributing in the fields of performing arts, painting, and photography.
"He patronised arts in India, the performing art, theatre, painting and sculpture and set making. And the way he motivated writers, that's absolutely incredible. Take the example of Girish Karnad, he was writing in Karnataka, in Kannada, Marathi and English, if we know him in the Hindi heartland and throughout India, the whole credit goes to Alkazi sahab," Iqbal said.
Crediting Alkazi for his "madness for theatre", film and theatre veteran Raghubir Yadav said that he learnt "to be never satisfied with your work" from the late director.
"When I was in NSD, I worked under him for three years. It was because of him that I developed the craze...the madness for theatre. I started enjoying theatre because of him, his techniques," Yadav said.
Film and theatre personalities including Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, both alumni of NSD, took to Twitter to pay homage.
"The true architect of the Modern Indian Theatre. The Doyen who possessed the extreme knowledge in all the aspects of ART. The magician who nurtured many greats of theatre. May your brightest spark from the heaven keeps us enlightening," Siddiqui tweeted.
"Just got the sad news #EbrahimAlkazi sahab passed away...end of an era for sure...one of the pillars of modern Indian theatre...RIP sir," wrote Ayyub on the microblogging website.
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Excise policy case: HC gives more time to Kejriwal, Sisodia to respond to ED plea to expunge remarks
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted time till April 2 to former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others to respond to a plea by the Enforcement Directorate to expunge "unwarranted" remarks made against it by the trial court while discharging them in the liquor policy case.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma expressed displeasure over the request for more time by the lawyers appearing for Kejriwal and other accused, and said it would fix a date for final hearing in the matter during the next hearing on April 2.
"I don't know why you are not filing a reply. You should have filed a reply if you think you really needed to file a reply. They are only saying judge should not have written something that he has written."
"By second (of April), you file your reply. Then we will fix a date for final hearing," the judge said.
The Enforcement Directorate's counsel said there was no need to file replies to its petition and that this was an attempt to delay the case.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for ED, contended that the agency's petition has no impact on the accused, as the challenge was limited to the trial court judge's observations against the agency when it discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and others in the CBI case.
The counsel for one of the accused said a brief reply was necessary and time was needed for it as the discharge order was 600 pages long.
Justice Sharma remarked that the ED's case has nothing to do with all 600 pages.
"Here is a prosecuting agency which has stated that the judge exceeded jurisdiction. I told them even I make such observations. I need to deicide it but you said I need to file a reply. Now you say 600 pages have to be read," the judge observed.
Raju also urged the court to direct that the observations of the trial court would not be relied upon by the accused in related proceedings. "It is a short date. Let them reply," the court responded.
On March 10, the court had asked Kejriwal and others to respond to the ED's plea.
In the petition, ED said the trial court's remarks were wholly extraneous to the CBI's case. It said the ED was neither a party in those proceedings nor afforded any opportunity to be heard.
"If such sweeping, unguided, bald observations are permitted to stand ... grave and irreparable prejudice would be caused to the public at large as well as the petitioner," the ED plea said.
"Therefore, the aforesaid paragraphs which concern the investigation independently conducted by the Enforcement Directorate under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) deserve to be expunged as it amounts to a clear case of judicial overreach...," it added.
On February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and others in the Delhi liquor policy case, pulling up the CBI by saying that its case was wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny and stood discredited in its entirety.
The trial court ruled that the alleged conspiracy was nothing more than a speculative construct resting on conjecture and surmise, devoid of any admissible evidence.
To compel the accused to face the rigours of a full-fledged criminal trial in the stark absence of any legally admissible material did not serve the ends of justice, it said.
In its order, the trial court highlighted that a procedure permitting prolonged or indefinite incarceration based on a provisional and untested allegation risked "degenerating into a punitive process" and raised a "concern of considerable constitutional significance" where individual liberty was "imperilled" by invoking the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
It said the issue assumed heightened significance where an accused was arrested for the offence of money laundering and thereafter required to surmount the stringent twin conditions prescribed for the grant of bail, resulting in prolonged incarceration even at the pre-trial stage.
It further said that despite the settled legal position that the offence of money laundering cannot independently subsist and requires the foundational edifice of a legally sustainable predicate offence, the prevailing practice revealed a disturbing inversion.
Underlining that the objective of PMLA was undoubtedly legitimate and compelling, the trial judge mentioned that statutory power, however wide, could not eclipse constitutional safeguards.
