Terey Ishq Nachaya

By Juhi Jaferii, "Bulleh Shah: Terey Ishq Nachaya" - Daily Times - Karachi, Pakistan
Wednesday, October 15, 2008

It was a deeply Sufistic Tuesday night at the Arts Council as the Ajoka group performed Bullah, a play based on the life and times of Bulleh Shah.

Filled with fervor and qawalli, song and dance, the hall echoed with the wisdom of the Sufi poet. Teachings of love and tolerance oozed upon the audience. Their expectations were met with a beautifully simple play that sang its way through time and history, holding them in their seats and making them drink every word, every song that left its lips.

Written by Shahid Nadeem and directed by Madeeha Gauhar, Bullah broke the bonds between dialogue, language and understanding. It reflected the same intensity as the Sufi’s own words, completely drenching the audience in its meaning, its emotions. Even though the play was mostly in Punjabi, like Bulleh’s Kalaam, it transcended the barrier of language and settled upon the hearts of the audience. The humor, the sorrow and Bullah’s experiences were all in Punjabi, yet the people who couldn’t understand the words, did understand what they meant.

Enormous credit must be given to the actors, the musicians and the qawals. The set was simple, holding only white Mughal arches and two low charpayes. The actors had to color the play, fill it with emotions, reds, blues, dances and parrot green. The play was weaved with music and rhythm constantly hummed a beat, if the instruments and song stopped, it left an after taste that silently echoed in the nodding of the actors head or the soft stamping of the actors feet. Music became movement and movement music.

Sarfraz Ansari simply became Bulleh Shah in his magnificent performance. However, the play belonged to each actor and singer and none stood out because all did their part to the best. The actors captured the audience’s attention, the singers held everyone in place and the qawals stirred every single being in the hall into ecstatic passion.

The play portrayed the problems faced by Bulleh Shah while spreading his message of tolerance and love through music and dance. He was severely criticized by the orthodox Islamic clerics for his ways and teachings, condemned even after death, to suffer banishment from the city of Kasur, the city he was brought up in, the city he came to love.

Not much has changed between the Bulleh Shah’s time and that of today. Extremism and inanity is still widely accepted without question because it is falsely cloaked as Islam. By performing this play, Ajoka brought this fact into the light, they portrayed Bulleh’s message.

Ajoka reminded the audience that even though Bulleh was banished from Kasur, even though he was buried outside the city, Bulleh was in the heart of Kasur and there is where he lies till today. This is proof enough that those who preach love are remembered, a city can move for them and those who oppose love are forgotten.

The play gave hope to the audience that a day will come when the extremism and turmoil faced by the country will subside and those who fought violence with love like Bulleh Shah will prevail and will be remembered.