NO SHORTCUTS FOR ME

My aim in life has been earning respect and recognition through efforts and not shortcuts says veteran stage director and script writer Vilayat Jafri in an interview with HT CITY.

Jafri was the one who started with landscape theaters a.k.a.light and sound program in the city in the early 70’s.

He is a person who never ran for commercial success, because for him critical acclaim is what matters more.

As I was born in Raebareli, my grandfather was the founder of Ramleela there. I used to play the character of Hanuman in my childhood, and this is where my journey for theater started.

Since his childhood he had a deep liking towards literature. The first book written by him was published when he was in 8^th standard, and its first edition was sold within the first six months.

Commenting on today’s Indian television serials, Jafri says, “They don’t portray what India is all about, the more they stretch the number of episodes the baseline and the concept gets vanished.”

Vilayat is very fond of home made Dal Chawal and Chutney. He loves to hear classical music and Ghulam Ali is his favorite singer.

His aim while scripting a copy for a play remains uniform because he tries to project emotional integration and unity in them. Some of his famous plays have been Ek Zama Do, Zehar Kaun Piye and Shatranj Ke Mohare in which he did his direction.

He believes that meeting with Habib Tanveer is what gave a new turn to his life.

Except scripting for plays he had also written script for television serials which includes Neem Ka Ped and Sher Shah Suri.

The writer is the recipient of Sangeet Natak Academy Award, Literary Award, Acharya Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi Award and has also been nominated for the Padamshree.

He shares a small advice for the upcoming theater artists, “Don’t go for shortcuts and try to use your full potential in whatever you do.”