He loved life, wanted to live another hundred years: Amal Allana on theatre great Ebrahim Alkazi

Ebrahim Alkazi, known as the father of modern Indian theatre and former director of the National School of Drama, loved life so much that he wanted to live for another hundred years as he felt there was still a lot to be done in the world of theatre and art.Remembering her father, theatre director Amal Allana shared some unknown aspects of his life at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival JLF here.

Ebrahim Alkazi, known as the father of modern Indian theatre and former director of the National School of Drama, loved life so much that he wanted to live for another hundred years as he felt there was still a lot to be done in the world of theatre and art.

Remembering her father, theatre director Amal Allana shared some unknown aspects of his life at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) here. Talking about her book, "Ebrahim Alkazi: Holding Time Captive", Allana revealed that the title came from a small note her father had written that was discovered the day he died. ''...everyone in the house was present around him. All the grandchildren. I was sitting there. Suddenly something magical happened, I opened a drawer of the table kept nearby and found a piece of paper written in his hand. Due to age, his hands trembled and his handwriting was also sloppy. It said, 'I am trying to hold time captive.','' she said.

"He loved life. He wanted to live another hundred years." Alkazi died from a heart attack on August 4, 2020. Allana said that the purpose behind writing the book was not to prove Alkazi to be great as an artist and a father but to ''document the memories of the journey of seeing Ebrahim Alkazi become what he became''.

Alkazi was the director of NSD from 1962-77 and made significant contributions in giving a new direction to the institution. The mentor of many veteran actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Nadira Babbar and Om Puri, Alkazi is remembered for giving a more professional and technical dimension to theatre.

Allana said that writing the book was ''a very emotional experience'' for her in which she chose to not cover up aspects of her father's life, including his relation with journalist-actor Uma Anand.

She said that to understand this triangular relationship, she had to see it from the perspective of her mother, Roshan Alkazi.

Her mother's faith in art was deeply rooted in commitment and as a costume designer, she played an important role in giving a new direction to theatre along with Alkazi.

''There was no secrecy in the relationship between Ebrahim and Uma Anand, but his personality was such that he did not allow anyone to pass a moral judgement,'' the director of Art Heritage and trustee of the Alkazi Foundation said. While sharing memories related to her father, Allana narrated an amusing anecdote when Alkazi arrived at a party wearing nothing but a bush shirt, showing his love for comedy.

''The host had organised a very informal party at his house in which the dress code was 'only bush-shirt' and Alkazi went to the party wearing only a shirt. The host was introducing him to his guests and the guests' gaze was moving away from his face and towards his feet because Alkazi was not wearing trousers,'' Allana said.

In conversation with art critic, poet and art curator Ranjeet Hoskote, Allana referred to her father's last wish and said that creating a huge archive of his photographs was both his wish and his achievement. ''He used to say that history should be known only through pictures. That is why he created such a huge archive which today is actively helping archivists, anthropologists and researchers,'' she said.

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