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A lab publication of the Department of Communication, S.N. School, the University of Hyderabad.
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Volume 8, Issue 14, Pages 8 November 2015, For internal circulation only
MagicalMelodiesof Sufiyana
Art of Reading -P6
HyderabadiSpecial
UOH DISPATCH
EvolvingSensibilities -P4
-P3
MuchNeeded
Space -P5
INSIDE: INSIDE:
All classical music enthu-siasts and connoisseurs, it is that time of the year
when the city of Nizams blooms with concerts and cultural fes-tivals. Hyderabad is known for hosting music concerts, especial-ly classical music, in the month of November and December. Behind the cultural melange, are the music sabhas across the city. Music concerts always attract the public through their ragas and eminent singers who make the occasion special but no one really cares about the organisa-tion which puts a lot of effort to make the event grand. Isn’t this the right opportunity to explore the most prominent as well as the unsung sabhas of the city? Their list is long; hence we have just scratched the surface.
The South Indian Cultural Association (SICA) is a stellar organisation which towers over the cultural space of the city. Situ-ated at Basheer Bagh, it has been 56 years since it took shape. This makes it one of the oldest and most renowned music sabhas in Hyderabad. The SICA regularly organises monthly programmes and annual art festivals, which attract a huge gathering of music and art lovers. The eminent per-sonalities who rendered concerts for SICA include Chembai Vaid-yanatha Bhagavathar, M. S. Sub-
balakshmi, G. N. Balasubraman-yam, and many others. SICA also organises special events in col-laboration with other cultural and philanthropic organisations.
India’s independence led to the formation of States on linguistic lines due to which many officers and employees were transferred from Madras Presidency to Andhra’s then capital Kur-nool. Later they settled in Hy-derabad. Till then the city lacked any kind of patronage on carnatic music except for a very few.
K r i s h n a Gana Sabha was the only prominent institution that was conducting concerts, that too with limited resources. Most of the officials from the Madras Presidency were ardent fans of classical music and they missed what they used to experi-ence in Madras. Thus SICA was born from the initiative of a few music lovers on 26th May, 1959 as the need for a music sabha
was vehemently felt by them. Initially the association started functioning from the residence of one of the officials in Hyderbasti, Jeera, Secunderabad. With the construction of Ravindra Bhar-
athi in 1961, SICA started o rgan i s ing concerts on a regular ba-sis. In fact, SICA event was the first programme to be held af-ter Ravindra B h a r a t h i ’s inauguration.
“For six e v e n i n g s c o n t i n u -ously, the rasikas of the twin cities were glued to their seats at Ravindra
Bharathi, from 8th to 13th De-cember,” says R. Chakrapani, Secretary of SICA. Popular mu-sic and dance critic Gudipudi Sri-hari once wrote in The Hindu, “It is notable that SICA went inno-vative in clubbing the concerts of well known musicians with local talent, especially of the younger generation, by holding two con-certs on each day barring the in-
augural session.” During its initial stages the
institution focused on the culture of South India, particularly Tamil Nadu but over the years SICA has developed and forayed into the cultural expanse of the na-tion. The range includes carnatic, Hindustani and all kinds of folk music.
Kalasagaram is another such institution known for organising musical concerts across the city. With its establishment in 1967, it has grown in stature and has been conducting cultural events, especially in the realm of music. Apart from offering entertain-ment to the public and the music lovers, it provides encouragement to young and upcoming artists. It offers freedom and space to young talents, especially in clas-sical music. Kalasagaram con-ducts programmes on a monthly basis and it also has annual fes-tival programmes. The annual competitions by Kalasagaram in music have gained attraction in the public sphere as it could at-tract entrants from Vishakhapa-tnam, Vijayawada, Bangalore, Chennai and even music lovers across the globe.
Other than SICA and Kala-sagaram, many sabhas such as Sur Mandal have also been in the mainframe, arranging scintillat-ing performances in Hyderabad
Hyderabad’s melting pot of culture
Apart from offering
entertainment to the public and music lovers, the sabhas provide a
platform to young and upcoming
artists.
2UOH DISPATCHNovember 2015
MELODY REIGNS
Culture is a collective experience of generations. What I am experiencing today is not culture, but it is the experience that has been transferred to generations as knowledge and practice. Hyderabad is a wonderland for many traditions, which is unexplored so far and also a treasure of many art forms. Every culture can be exhibited through its own differ-ent art forms. There is an urgent need to promote, preserve, propagate and popularize the dying art forms.
Mamidi Harikrishna Cultural Director of Telangana
Redefining culture...
Magical melodies of Sufiyana
“Beenai na thi to dekhte thhe sab kuch
Jab aankh khuli to kuch na dekha humne”
- Hazrat Khwaja Mir
Out of the hundreds of definitions available for Sufism, the best are the
ones that the poetries themselves embody. Truth, passion, wisdom, mysticism and above all love, when blended with the purity of devotion, the world witnessed what we now know as Sufism. Beautiful mastery of words laden with true philosophy, knowledge and wisdom of Sufi poetry along with the simplicity and austerity of the Sufi saints made Sufism popular among masses.
History of Sufism in India can be dated back to the Sultanate era when Muslim rulers patronised sufi mystics to propagate Islam among non-believers for their strong mass appeal. Being one of the oldest Islamic princely states, the sufi culture blossomed in the city of Hyderabad and flourished ever since. The city embraced sufi saints and their poetry, and sufi culture became an insepara-ble part of its rich cultural herit-age. The shrines built over the graves of sufi masters, called the ‘Dargah’ are scattered across the city. Prominent among them is the Shaikpet Dargah built in the
memory of the great saint Haz-arath Hussain Shah Wali. These dargahs used to function as a place for preservation and trans-mission of Islamic tradition and Sufi exoteric knowledge, and also as a place for the cure of physical and mental ail-ments giving them the air of mysticism.
The sufi masters wel-comed people to the dargah without any distinction of caste and sta-tus: disciples, nobles, ordi-nary people and came in the pursuit of spiritual and material sup-port.
There was a phase of Sufism in Hyderabad, where it lost its prominence as Muslims shrunk to a minority community, post 1948. But the intellectuals and religious scholars struggled to preserve the spirit from getting extinguished and succeeded in doing so. The revival of sufism gave more strength and deepened its roots. Since then, Sufism has broken free from a religious framework and has become part of a larger context. People from different
walks of life find solace in sufi music.
The term ‘Sufi Culture’ in-corporates a lot more. Sufi mu-sic, which is the devotional mu-sic is inspired from the works of Sufi poets, like Rumi, Hafiz,
Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusro and Khwaja Ghulam Farid. Qawwali is also a well known form of sufi music.
Hyderabad continues to host a number of Qawwali shows attract-ing a huge crowd. The Sufi dance is another mes-merizing art form, a form
of physically active meditation started by Sufis. Performed in ceremonies, it involves surrender-ing ourself and our soul to the su-preme divine and spinning one’s body in repetetive circles which symbolizes the planets orbiting the sun. These age old traditions of Qawalis, Sufi dance and Sufi poetries have their roots deep in the soil of Hyderabad, as chap-ters of its grand history and tales of lore.A bunch of enthusiasts are now trying to make it a part of the
city’s lifestyle with an innovative initiation. ‘Hyderabad Trails’ or-ganizes exploratory walks in the city regularly to help people expe-rience the different facets.
The musical trail moves around in the Old City, exploring and celebrating sufi music, po-etry and conversations. They visit heritage monuments and shrines, while musicians and singers from Sufi, Bhakti and Baul traditions perform. The inspiration to such an initiation goes back to a tradi-tion in some parts of North India called the Prabhat Pheri (Morning Wanderings). Fakirs and bhakti saints walk through the streets singing kirtans and songs, and playing ektara and mridangam. They would often be joined by other people. These walks start in the early hours of the day and also wake the neighborhood with the music. Sufiyana, the musical trail organised by Hyderabad Trails is an attempt to revive this tradition.
They define themselves with the caption “musical wanderings in the twilight hours”. Though Hyderabad Trails is not the only group propagating and preserv-ing sufi culture in Hyderabad, it stands out for the interesting execution. Indeed, the growing popularity of the musical trail is a pointer to the fact that sufi cul-ture will always be integral to Hyderabad and passed down to generations
MYSTICAL SUFISM
3UOH DISPATCHNovember 2015
Age old traditions of Qawallis,
Sufi dance and Sufi poetries have their roots deep in
the soil of Hyderabad.
It’s not merely a spiritual dimension but a way of life that revolves around love. Love for all. Love for life. Hyderabad is rich in terms of many sufi ideas and is an abode for many sufis and seekers. The dargahs, architecture, poetry, literature are all a bridge to this path. I wish everyone takes time to understand and appreciate what is left behind in the form and ‘formless’.
Fazil NC, Independent Film Maker
Way of life
Faiza Fatima Hasan’s first memory of herself was of painting with watercolours.
Today, she picks out images from newspapers, magazines and old photos and paints a portrait of those who she feels are not in fo-cus. “It’s that nameless face that makes it interesting,” she says. A piece of art, from its conception in an artist’s mind to the final brush stroke, is a journey in itself.
She is one of the many young and upcoming artists in Hy-derabad who have displayed their work at a host of galleries in the city. There are government run art galleries such as Salarjung Museum and the State Art Gal-lery and several privately owned ones such as Shrishti Art Gallery and Kalakriti Art Gallery. Scores of upcoming artists get ample op-portunities to get started by show-casing their work at some of the art galleries. “Since we started in 2010, our main objective is to introduce emerging artists to the market,” says Syed Manzoor Hussain, owner of the Deccan Art Gallery. The State Art Gallery is said to have produced 1000 new artists over the past one year. “Artists need to approach the right places to exhibit their tal-ents,” says B. Manohar, Director at the State Art Gallery.
Lakshmi Nambiar, continuing her mother’s legacy at Shrishti Art Gallery, says, “Our gallery focuses on contemporary arts and has laid a strong platform for up-coming artists. We conduct events like ‘Emerging Talents’ for fine arts students from various univer-sities.” As accommodating as the art galleries proclaim to be, a lot of fresh graduates take time to en-ter the main league due to various issues. “Recent Fine Arts gradu-
ates like me find means to sur-vive financially through freelance projects, jobs at design firms, theatre, film companies; as teach-ers, writers etc. There are a few public scholar-ships and grants available. Al-most all young artists find alter-nate sources of income till they are able to sup-port themselves purely through their art,” ex-plains Faiza, who has also worked as a cu-rator for the Stu-dent’s Biennale at the Kochi Muziris Bien-nale in 2014.
The government has lent its support to artists and art galler-ies but still has a long way to go. The State Art Gallery doesn’t take
any commission from the sale of an artist’s piece and only collects rent for providing space and or-ganises art melas and workshops.
There are a few g o v e r n m e n t funds but the number of art-ists produced each year is way more than these initiatives can support.
While there is a rise in the number of art galleries, artists and art shows, the state of art is still not at par with cities such as Delhi and Mumbai. “Talented artists move to other
places or in some cases they live here but their practices are more connected or associated with gal-leries of other cities. There is a
lack of understanding when it comes to artwork that doesn’t conform to clichés like flow-ers or pretty faces for example,” feels Tanmay Santra, an artist and art professor at the Dept of Fine Arts, University of Hyderabad. “Art lovers are less in Hyderabad and even the market isn’t as wide-spread as in other cities,” concurs Manzoor Hussain.
Art in Hyderabad is growing steadily with many artists open-ing up to the idea of alternative spaces. This ranges from collabo-rating with cultural centres like Goethe Zentrum to taking art out into public spaces. Ailamma Art Gallery is one such place. “Public rush is good here. We provide our space at very low cost which en-courages upcoming artists as well as poor and struggling artists,” says Jagadish N., incharge of the art gallery.
Even though Hyderabad is not as vibrant as other cities and faces a number of serious issues, the art scene is evolving for the better
Beyond the canvasMy recent body of work has titles inspired by politi-cal statements that were made in response to issues of violence. One was a remark made by a major political party’s chief when he claimed that rape does not happen in Bharat but happens in India claiming that only one section of women invite trouble thus blaming them for the violence and letting off the person who committed the crime. The whole anger about scrutiny of women and injustice after the Delhi rape case prompted me to start this work. Each time an incident like this occurs to a woman who you may not even know, not only threatens my sense of security but also of any other girl living in the country. There needs to be a sense of urgency to ad-dress these kinds of issues.
Evolving sensibilities4UOH DISPATCH
November 2015
ART TALK
Many artists are opening up
to the idea of alternative spaces
ranging from collaborating with cultural centres to taking art out into
a public space.
Photo Credit: Google Images
Faiza Fatima HasanArtist, Hyderabad
Beyond the canvas
A city like Hyderabad which is culturally rich and tradi-tionally vibrant no doubt
stands as the world’s 3rd best city to visit by travel book guide Loney Planet in 2013. Quli Qu-tub Shah, the great king, named this city after his beloved queen Bhagmati who was a great dancer. Performing arts like dance, music and drama have a rich legacy and have been given importance by the rulers of the city. And when it comes to the cultural spaces where these arts are performed one cannot forget venues like Ravindra Bharati, Tyagaraja Gana Sabha and Lalitha Kala Toranam which were started 50 years ago and still stand strong and are open to big cultural meets. However over the past few years there has been a major shift which paved way in expanding the horizons of learning and doing in these cul-tural spaces. Spaces like Sacred Space, LaMakaan, Saptaparni and Roots Commune opened their doors for young, budding artists and the city has seen a remarkable increase in performances.
These spaces bring together artists and communities who are engaged in socio-cultural work sharing common ideas. Nayanta-
ra Nanda Kumar, an Odissi dancer and environmental engineer who started ‘Our Sacred Space’ in Secunderabad says, “We create a platform for the arts we care for. Today we are proud to say that Our Sacred Space is creating space for so many arts day in and day out.”
S a c r e d Space was started in Au-gust 2012. This space of-fers classes in various dance forms, crea-tive arts, yoga and meditation and also lan-guage classes all through the week and also stands as a ven-ue for perfor-mances.
On the other hand, LaM-akaan, is a cosy house built on the rocky terrain, started in 2010. Subha Reddy, manager of LaM-akaan says, “LaMakaan is an al-ternative space where people can hang around and share their art
and knowledge.” Around 300 to 500 people visit LaMakaan daily and for the evening performances, around 50 to 200 people attend the show by buying a ticket worth Rs. 100.
Prominent television anchor Jhansi visits these cultural spaces
in the city regu-larly and con-ducted the Clay Ganesh Bucket Visarjan Chal-lenge last month at Our Sacred Space. Around 500 people from all over the city participated in the challenge. Jhansi says “Leaving alone my event, this space is a hub, a one stop place for all the cul-tural, social and environmental activities. I see kids as well as
men and women above 60 years taking part in cooking, jewellery making and salsa classes.”
Urban ashram like Roots Commune is a co-working space.
“Roots Commune is an inspira-tional and beautiful place that encourages sustainable practices like collaboration, sharing and creativity,” says Mallik, the crea-tive director of Roots Commune.
When asked what makes young artists to perform at these open spaces, Vineet Kumar, who has a small theatre group says, “Along with 10 of my friends I perform small skits and plays in LaMakaan and other places. The best thing is that I don’t have to pay lakhs of rupees to rent these spaces unlike Ravindra Bharathi or Shilpakala Vedika, where they charge exorbitant rates. Though we are beginners, we perform well and these spaces are best where we can experiment and demonstrate new ideas.”
Sandeep Gandra, an animator, says, “Even though I have an of-fice space I prefer to work from LaMakaan. It is a lovely place to spend time and one gets a network of new contacts and connections”.
The open cultural spaces in the city charge minimal amounts to people who want to use their spaces. The space is given out on rent depending on the number of hours and the number of people participating.
People attending the work-shops are charged between Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,000 depending upon the number of days and hours. Other places like Saptaparni, Ka-laachakra, Kalpataru are striving to encourage art and culture in the city. Places like Our Sacred Space and LaMakaan hold Bruduvaram Bazar, Adivaram Angadi and Sun-day organic market where home-grown, farm fresh food products are sold by small scale farmers. Handmade crafts and handloom product stalls are also exhibited. Organic homemade food or chai-samosa in one hand and listening to music is a good combo that one should look forward to in these spaces
5UOH DISPATCHNovember 2015
Much needed spacesOPENING UP
Over the past few years there has
been a major shift which paved way in expanding the
horizons of learning and doing in these
cultural spaces.
Hyderabad also known as the foremost centre of art and culture is the capital
of the youngest Indian state of Tel-angana. Since its establishment in 1591, the city has made a name for itself in the cultural prospects. Reading and literature being one of the most pivotal aspects of art and culture, Hyderabad is known for the distinct reading culture. The city, since 2010 has been organising a literary festival named Hyderabad Literary Festi-val to celebrate and showcase the city’s literary and cultural creativ-ity. Organisations such as Sahitya Akademi, the Urdu Academy, the Telugu Academy, the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, the Comparative Lit-erature Association of India, and the Andhra Saraswatha Parishad work towards the development of literature.
The city has about 90 librar-ies out of which 40 are located in the Old city but with development and advancement in technology the condition of these libraries deteriorated and the number of visitors dwindled. This brought together passionate readers across the city, which led to the rise of various book club meetups like Vedika, Books and Cinemas, LICH (Literary, Intellectual and Cultural Hub), Joy of Reading, Newbie Writers and many more. The purpose of these book clubs is
to unite readers across Hyderabad and to explore the literature and to keep alive the reading habits of the people. Another ma-jor purpose is to distract people’s mind from all the channels of work and t e c h n o l o g y they are en-gaged in.
W h i l e speaking to UoH Dis-patch, Mukesh V., member of LICH said “The idea for this group started as a place to share and discuss books and bring together book lovers and to rekindle the dying passion to read. We encompass all forms of litera-ture not just reading but writing and narration as well, from art to science and from philosophy to lifestyle etc.” LICH is a cultural club and it organises a Cauldron potpourri, a monthly convergence held by LICH to bring members together and share their ideas on the first Wednesday of every month and share their creativity, excerpts, anecdotes, information,
experiences and insights by each individual. Besides this, there are various book clubs in the city,
some allow-ing every age group while some like Joy of Reading fo-cus more on children, to improve the reading skills among young-sters. “Our goal is to provide children access to books and to motivate them to take up read-ing so that they can continue independently and get access to virtually all knowledge in the world,”
said the organizing team. Joy of Reading has a unique concept of service which is sharing books with educational institutions, NGOs and shelter homes on a ro-tation basis. It conducts reading sessions in schools and gathers volunteers in and around the city.
Vedika, another book club in Kukatpally is a platform for peo-ple interested in Telugu literature, they meet every second Sunday to discuss short stories, introduce novels followed by discussions
and debates with writers. “Our main emphasis is to keep alive the Telugu literature and also expand its growth.” said Jagadish N., a member at Vedika.
When asked about their per-sonal experiences Anita Gupta, a member at Vedika said, “Read-ing is one of the best habits one should inculcate and for the past five months I have been very reg-ular to various book club meet-ups across the city.” She believes that it has helped her in gaining knowledge. She makes sure eve-rybody at home also reads. “I also encourage my kids to read books.”
While most of the book clubs in the city lay emphasis on read-ers, organisations like Newbie Writers aim to encourage new writers and give an opportunity to share their views and promote their work.
Reading has always been root-ed very deeply in the culture of Hyderabad. The growth of several book clubs has given a platform to many book lovers and has helped in carrying this legacy of reading through time. The main aim of these book clubs has been to rus-tle the creative and literary minds which should work as a catlyst to tune individuals and incline them more to the art of reading. It has also given life to literature, em-phasizing on promoting the liter-ary art and culture
Reading is one of the habits that should be inculcated and for the past five months I have been very regular to various book club meetups across the city. It has helped me in expansion of knowledge and I make sure everybody at home also read, I also encourage my kids to read book every night besides their academic ones. I make sure they read at least a page every day because I know how it works, it not only gives you extra knowledge, but improves your grammar and is the best way to de-stress yourself. These days we are all busy catching up with our schedule. Reading helps to give a break and to refresh you and I strongly believe everybody should cultivate this habit and also join the various book clubs and explore them.
Anita Gupta, member, Vedika Book Club
A new chapter
6UOH DISPATCHNovember 2015
JUST PAGES
There are around 20 book clubs in the city like LICH (Literary, Intellec-tual and Cultural
Hub), Joy of Reading, Newbie Writers, Vedika,
Books and Cinema.
Art of readingLalrindiki
The culture of Hyderabad is also known as ‘Deccani Tehzeeb’. This explicit
‘Tehzeeb’ has evolved due to the syncretism of both Hindu and Muslim traditions. Hyderabad remained an important seat for various dynasties who ruled the region from time to time. The di-verse traditions and customs of various dynasties got synchro-nized and thus gave birth to a very distinctive culture in the heart of south India known as ‘Deccani Tehzeeb’, an amalgamation of Telugu-Persian culture. Since its formation in 1591 A.D by Quli Qutub Shah of Qutub Shahi dy-nasty, Hyderabad remained the centre of various arts and aesthet-ics, which continued to flourish during the reign of Mughals and later under the rule of Nizams, there was a great emphasis on poetry, music, dance and theatre.
Theatre is a growing art form in Hyderabad and gaining popularity over time. Theatre groups like Surabhi, Sutradhar, Samahaara, Udaan, Kissa Go, Manthan, Rangadhara etc., con-duct various shows. Samahaara, which is headed by Ratna Shek-har Reddy has made its name by conducting theatre workshops. It is one of the most active groups in India and has organized many theatre festivals including Hy-derabad Theatre Film and Short Film Festival. It has also initi-ated many competitions to bring amateur and professional theatre groups to Hyderabad by improv-ing the quality and scale of the plays. The Qadir Ali Baig Thea-tre Festival is one of the major festivals in Hyderabad. After Qadir Ali Baig, an eminent thea-
tre personality passed away, his son Mohammed Ali Baig , who is a director himself formed a group
in the city in 2005 as ‘Qadir Ali Baig Foundation’ with eminent personalities from diverse fields like Vani Ganapathy (dancer), actors like Rohini Hattangadi, Suhasini Mani Ratnam and Ur-mila Matondkar, Javed Akhtar (lyricist) and M. S. Sathyu (film director). In this Foundation, new talents are nurtured and trained. This Festival has given the best of shows to this city by bringing famous artists like Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher and Shabana Azmi.
Every year Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival is conducted
for a week and this year it was conducted from 27th October to 6th November. Various famous personalities and actors attended this year’s theater fest. Mahesh Bhatt, Pankaj Kapur, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Ila Arun, Aanjjan Srivastav, Akash Khurana, Kitu Gidwani, S.M. Azhar Alam and Baharul Islam were part of it. This theatre festival has given mind boggling performances every year, famous among them are ‘Quli Qutub Shah,’ ‘Tana Shah,’ ‘Mahboob-e-Deccan’ and ‘Kohinoor ka Lutera.’
With the development in tech-nology, the theatre tickets are be-ing sold online and various spon-sors are coming up to promote the theatre culture in Hyderabad. Although theater in Hyderabad is growing fast, it faces certain problems like remuneration of actors involved, the space needed to practice and good public rela-tions and advertising to promote the shows. “We practice for about three months to perform in a the-atre play, in return we get only Rs.1500 to 2000 and sometimes we have to work even for free,” says Jay Jha, theatre artist. While in contradiction the ace theatre director Taher Ali Baig who has studied film making and worked with famous directors such as Nagesh Kukunoor, says, “I am a businessman pretending to be an artist, I believe in selling my show. I make people happy by delivering them humor and com-edy and in return I earn a lot of money and so do people involved with the production.” He believes that a good script, publicity and marketing can change the theatre culture in Hyderabad
Theatre Culture in Hyderabad
Although theater in Hyderabad is growing, it faces problems in the remuneration of actors involved,
the space needed to practice and
good public relations and advertising to promote the
shows.
7UOH DISPATCHNovember 2015
STAGE ART
A NewBegining
Akbarkhan
When we started working 10 years ago, the theatre was dif-ferent in Hyderabad. There were no multi-lingual theatres and none of the young people knew what the-atre was. We aimed at bringing more young people to theatre by doing free workshops. We did street thea-tre around the city in different locations to enlighten and attract young people towards theatre. To make it stronger, we conduct-ed theatre festivals for three years which gave birth to various ama-teur theatre groups in the city, which was our aim. Now the sce-nario is different, un-like 10 years ago, we see more new, young theatre groups.
Ratna Shekhar Reddy Founder, Samahaara
The reel story of Deccani
Phukat ke chaya, Phukat ke biskita, Phukat ke sa-mose khaake, mere ku
bambu ghusadre tum logaan. Tum logaan Chindhi chor kamaa karke baigan me mila diye re meri izzat ku. (You guys have free tea, free bis-cuits, free samosa and fool me around. You guys pull these cheap stunts and are ruining my reputa-tion.)
– Ismail Bhai, (The Angrez)
It is dialogues and movies like these that have given an identity to the Deccani film industry. While Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have the majestic Tollywood in-dustry to boast about, there is a lesser known film industry called Deccanwood. It is striving to make it big in the Indian film industry and has gained its own popularity. The release of the movie “An-grez” in 2005 threw light on Deccanwood. The usage of Hy-derabadi lingo known as Deccani (Dakhini) is its USP.
Despite the amateur acting, low budget and poor production, the public loves watching Decca-ni movies because of its sense of originality and use of the Deccani
language. “Deccani dialect has a flavor of comedy by default and the movies manage to be a laugh riot effortlessly,” says Ismail Mo-hammed, who loves watching Deccani movies.
D e c c a n i is a dialect famous on the streets of H y d e r a b a d and former parts of the Nizam state like Telan-gana, Andhra Pradesh, Kar-nataka and M a h a r a s h -tra. It draws its influence from Persian, Arabic, Mar-athi, Telugu, Konkani and Kannada lan-guages. This Hyderabadi lingo brought forth the Deccanwood film industry, which is trying to create an iden-tity of its own.
Gangs of Hyderabad, which released in August this year, Hun-gama in Dubai, Gullu Dada Re-turns, and Hyderabadi Nawabs are some famous Deccani movies.
The Central Board of Film Certi-fication (CBFC) certified only few Deccani movies as of now. Adnan Sajid Khan a.k.a Gullu Dada, Aziz Naser, Mast Ali and Zarine Ali Khan are some of the
prominent faces of Deccanwood. On the other hand supporting actors like Aziz Rizwan a.k.a Mogambo, Akbar Bin Tabar and Dheer Charan Srivastav are well known for their work.
“ D e c c a n i movies usually revolve around romance, comedy and action gen-res. Blending in the essence of old city, good script and Deccani dia-lect makes a good
Deccani Cinema,” says Pradeep Nandanavare.
Aziz Naser who is well known for his performance in films like Angrez and Hyderabad Nawabs started working in Deccani mov-ies for a passion. He left his job in Dubai and made his debut in Angrez, which was a hit. He is
also a director, writer and dub-bing artist in Tollywood and has acted in Telugu movies. He has lent his voice for actors like Sonu Sood in Dookudu, Aditya Pan-choli in Shadow, Nana Patekar in the Telugu remake of The Attacks of 26/11, Mukul Dev in Siddham and so on. Aziz Naser says that Deccani language itself makes the whole film stand out and goes on to say that he manages to make only one movie a year since the budget is very low. Deccan TV media, which has come up with programs such as the Deccani Khabarnama where news is re-ported in Deccani lingo; Postmor-tem, an entertainment show; and No College Full Knowledge, a programme based on facts.
It introduced the Deccani Rap, which projects a lot of future potential. The DeathRap band draws inspiration from the social issues in India. The Deccani in-dustry suffers an identity crisis since there has been no official acknowledgment made. The big-gest challenge is to find theatres to screen Deccani movies.
Despite all the challenges the entire industry is ready to cement an identity of its own and stand shoulder to shoulder with its big brother Tollywood
8UOH DISPATCHNovember 2015
The biggest chal-lenge is to find
theatres to screen Deccani mov-ies. Their only
alternate way of gaining revenue is through DVD
sales.
DECCANWOOD
THE TEAM: Editors: Lalrindiki Sailo, Akbarkhan Chief of Bureau: Siddharth Suresh News Editor: L. Rucilli Design Editor: Sunderlal RajaReporters: T. Takuangla Jamir, Keerthana B, Shahamat Hussain, Digavalli Pavan, Ch. Sandeep Manohar,
Shaima Mansoor, Ankitha Naishadham, Avipsha Sengupta
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