Jashn-E-Urdu At Gauhar Mahal: Rani Khanam’s Performance Captivates Audience

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The performance of Kathak exponent Rani Khanam and her troupe from Lucknow captivated the audience at Gauhar Mahal in the city on Saturday evening under ‘Raqs-e-sufiyana’.

Khanam is one of the most sensitive and astute interpreters of Lucknow Gharana of Kathak and she has been performing professionally for the past 30 years. She brings to her dance a rare sense of devotion and dedication, which leaves the audience with a sense of spiritual fulfilment.

She presented dances on songs ‘Ye naye Bharat ka Chehra Hai…,’ ‘Mera Bharat Anokha Desh…’ and ‘Mere Murshid Khele Holi…’ etc. which earned a huge round of applause from the audience.

It was part of the second day of the three-day ‘Jashn-e-Urdu,’ organised by the Madhya Pradesh Urdu Akademi themed on freedom from colonial mentality in literature.

Besides Kathak, rhythmic presentations of Urdu poetry, seminar on children's literature , literary open mic and Chilman Mushaira Shayarat were organised. Shubham SD and R Ved Pandya presented a rhythmic presentation of Urdu poetry. Authors Mohsin Khan (Lucknow), Mahesh Saxena (Bhopal) and Asif Saeed (Sironj) spoke on children’s literature.

Poets including Sabiha Sadaf (Raisen), Parveen Kaif (Bhopal), Monika Singh (Pune), Renu Nayyar (Jalandhar), Qamar Suroor (Ahmednagar) and Ambar Abid (Bhopal) recited their works under Chilman Mushaira Shayari.