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In theatre: Anwar Maqsood's 'Siachen' to come to Karachi on January 1

In theatre: Anwar Maqsood's 'Siachen' to come to Karachi on January 1

After garnering fame in Islamabad, Faisalabad and Multan,play about soldiers' life on glacier will be staged till Feb 28
30 Dec, 2015

KARACHI: A play Siachen, centred on the lives and sacrifices of Pakistani soldiers, will be staged from Jan 1 to Feb 28 at the Arts Council Karachi’s auditorium, announced the writer of the play Anwar Maqsood at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Maqsood, using his trademark humorous tone tinged with satire, said that after doing a string of plays (Ponay 14 August, Sawa 14 August, Aangan Terha, Half Plate, Dharna, etc directed by Dawar Mehmood) he felt he was stuck with the production company like someone gets stuck in traffic during a VIP movement.

One day Mr Mehmood came to him and requested him to write a play on the army (fauj), he said. He first replied that he would do that in his will (wasiat) but afterwards, since he loved the soldiers of the country, he decided to do so. The script was written and sent to the ISPR for approval, he said. He told the ISPR that the story was primarily about soldiers (jawans) and not officers, he said, so after omitting a few things, the play was staged in Islamabad, Faisalabad and Multan.

Highlighting the popularity of the show, he said the production team had intended to put up 14 shows in Islamabad but had to do 52 instead. Similarly, the number of performances in Multan and Faisalabad were increased.

Mr Maqsood said Siachen revolved around the lives of soldiers who gave up so much in life to protect their motherland.

He narrated a scene in which the mother of a soldier, who has already lost two sons (shaheed), asks her third son to go to Siachen in the line of duty. She says to her son that his real mother was his motherland. Once he leaves the house, she prostrates before God and wishes if she had a daughter, for at least she could stay back at home with her.

He said if on the one hand the play would elicit laughter, on the other hand it would make the audience shed tears. Mr Maqsood also lauded the entire cast and crew of the show (comprising university and college students) stating they had been working hard on the project for the past three months.

Mr Mehmood told journalists that prior to Siachen, 90 per cent of the cast had no experience of acting, and yet they worked hard to do justice to their roles. They were sent to Siachen to have an idea as to how tough conditions there were, and were trained by an army man for fitness as well.

He requested theatregoers to wear warm clothes when they come to see the play because the temperature of the hall would be adjusted to create a cold (glacial) atmosphere.

After the press conference, the cast of the play was introduced to the media. They were: Nosheen, Summaya, Taha, Saad, Tanveer, Sikander Yousufzai, Agha Mustafa, Umar Iqbal, Abiola and Zain.

Jan 1 is the media night of the show.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2015

Comments

OTM Dec 30, 2015 11:06am
Welcome home!
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Abdul malik Dec 30, 2015 11:23am
I welcome the show named Siachin . It has a special feature that ISPR has preaudited it and the objections of the said adhered to. Let me differ on one point that why only Jawans and why not Fauji officers? Both are part and parcel of the relationship inseparable. Then why one has been ignored to win good wishes? Whereas " alpha, bravo charlie " had both segments of the forces.
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Zeeshan Arshad Dec 30, 2015 02:09pm
The production team was welcomes so well here in Dubai with "anwar maqsood ka dharna". They really should stage Siachen here.
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asad Dec 31, 2015 01:10am
undoubtedly the whole cast & crew deserves a huge round of applause who have really done justice with their roles under the supervision of anwar maqsood sahab and dawar mehmood that at first it was unable to believe that they are not the real soldiers .... a must watch stage play
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asad Dec 31, 2015 01:12am
@Abdul malik officer part has not really been gnored as it covers the life of the soldier at a post in siachen which actually has normally one officer with the soldiers...so does the siachen post at stage has :)
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