#memory
Ebrahim Alkazi.
4 August is the death anniversary of the father of modern Indian Theatre, Ebrahim Alkazi (1925-2020).
Born to Arab parents in Pune, his family migrated to Pakistan, but Alkazi chose to stay back.
He graduated from Bombay and joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Alkazi won the BBC broadcasting award in 1950.
He returned to Bombay in 1951 and formed the Theatre Group with friends, Alyque Padamsee, Derek Jeffries, Sylvester da Cunha etc.
Alkazi directed and acted in more than 100 plays and took the English theatre in Mumbai to national and international acclaim.
He produced and directed acclaimed plays like Girish Karnad’s Thuglak, Mohan Rakesh’s Ashad ka ek Din, Dharamveer Bharathi’s Andha Yug etc.
He also connducted 10 major art exhibitions at the Jehangir Art Gallery.
Not even 30, Alkazi was invited to form the National School of Drama, and was it’s longest serving director from 1962 to 1977.
Alkazi launched some of the finest actors of our times like Om Shivpuri, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah and Rohini Hattangadi.
In 1977 he founded the Art Heritage Gallery, providing a platform for some of the greatest painters like MF Hussain, FN Souza, Tyeb Mehta, KG Subramanian, Laxman Goud etc.
At age 70, Alkazi founded the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, which documents and exhibits photographs from the colonial and the 19th century.
Ebrahim Alkazi was decorated with the Padma Vibhushan in 2010.
The recently published book, Enter Stage Right by Feisal Alkazi provides some rare insights into the Life of the legend and the Padamsees, the family of his wife Roshan and colleague Alyque.
– Joy Kallivayalil.
