Lucknow’s hidden gems: Dastangoi artiste Kafeel Jafri says ‘stories need to reflect today’s realities’
- Roktim Rajpal
- Apr 1
- 3 min read
Dastangoi artiste Kafeel Jafri performed at Lucknow’s Sanatkada Festival on February 2 and left the audience spellbound with his oratory skills. Born and brought in Lucknow and based in Bengaluru , he is also a theatre artist and a corporate trainer. Speaking exclusively to Roktim Rajpal Diaries, Jafri opens up about his professional journey and the need to ensure that his work reflects the realities of our time.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
How was the experience of performing in Lucknow?
It was beautiful. The city has a long history of tehzeeb and adab. Performing in an open air setting is challenging but the audience was receptive and with me all along and their positive energy made me easier
How does the experience of performing in Lucknow compare to that of putting on a show in Bengaluru?
I am a bit biased towards Bengaluru. The city has a culture of appreciating all kinds of performing arts. As such, the audience is more respectful and receptive.
How did you get drawn towards theatre and dastangoi?
The way things work these days, there is always pressure to earn money and settle down. It was only after MBA and working in corporate that I could truly make a decision on what I want to do. Anyway, the seed for this was planted when I was a child. My nana taught me nohas . I was also exposed to Marsiyakhwani and Sozkhwani.
Years later and also after doing two or three jobs, I made a decision to explore this space. I was exposed to Bangalore theatre. In 2013, I did an excerpt from Girish Karnad-B.V.Karanth's Tuglaq– a 13-minute monologue. It was praised. A few more plays later, in 2016, a friend and a culture critic asked me to try dastangoi. That is how the journey started.
Which is easier, theatre or datangoi?
Both have their own set of fun and challenges. With fewer performers, there are fewer rehearsals in Dastangoi compared to theatre, especially when I write the Dastan and hence a lot of memorisations happens during the writing process itself. I have also come to know some shortcuts. You also need to be self critical.
Additionally, for Dastangoi, a performer needs to have a deeper understanding of Urdu Poetry and diction, along with acting skills.
How do you choose topics for your presentations?
I read a lot. If something clicks, I go with it. I had read Conference of Birds some years ago and it stayed with me. This is why I went with it during my performance in Lucknow.
How do you deal with an audience that is not reacting along expected lines?
It happens sometimes, even in corporate workshops. We do skits and the audience doesn’t know how to react or simply can’t understand. Under these circumstances, we try to come up with something different to make the audience feel comfortable and to make them feel that they can react. In dastangoi performances specifically,
I have found that making situations/events in the story relevant to the audience by using the terms from Gen-Z lingo or translating some Urdu lines into English work. Some other times a different way of gestures accompaying the words help.
Are these art forms tenable as careers in the long run?
Dastangoi is still viable if you have good marketing/PR skills and connections. Theatre is not that easy, primarily because it has a bigger team, but even that can be worked if it's made well and more shows are set up. If you are dependent solely on theatre, either you cut down on your expenses or explore avenues of applied theatre in behavioral aspects of other industries' work to sustain yourself.
What is the key to becoming a successful dastangoi artist?
A command on both poetry and acting skills is a must and above that You need to ensure that each performance is better than the last one. A lot of hard work is needed. Moreover, stories need to address today’s socio-economic-political realities, packaged in an entertaining way, as is the case with other forms like theatre and films.
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