Dubai: Mumbai’s iconic theatre company, Prithvi Theatre, will hold its first overseas festival in Dubai, organisers said on Tuesday.
Beginning today, the festival will stage a range of acclaimed plays at Ductac, Mall of the Emirates, until May 1.
Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor was in Dubai to introduce the festival on Tuesday.
Thanking the organisers Raging Tiger Events and his cousin, Kunal Kapoor, the trustee of Prithvi theatre, at a press conference, Kapoor said, “Kunal said to me that under the umbrella of Prithvi Theatre, he wished to attract more theatre groups from countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and perform there too. It sounded pretty good to me. Unfortunately, my biggest loss is I cannot be on stage — barring one incident where I was forced to at someone’s wedding but there, too, I remained a spectator. As far as the business is concerned, I am happy to say we are the fourth male generation from one family to be in the profession.”
Bollywood actors Naseeruddin Shah and his wife, Ratna Pathak Shah, who will perform the inaugural play of the festival, Dear Liar, on Wednesday, also attended the press conference.
Yogesh Mehta of Raging Tiger Events said they hope to make it an annual event.
“The idea was to bring quality theatre to Dubai,” Mehta told Gulf News. “The whole thing took about four months to put in place. I have a personal connect with Prithvi Theatre as it holds a lot of memories. Initially, Kunal wanted to take the festival to London but due to technical issues he went with us. At the same time he said he wanted to maintain the company’s core values and the thought processes behind it.
Kunal Kapoor — whose parents, Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor and his wife Jennifer, set up Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai in 1975 — said, “I hope the festival will grow bigger every year. I hope the Prithvi name will attract more people to theatre. It will help to bring in newer, lesser-known groups under the umbrella. Plus, we would like to collaborate with local groups and bring in theatre from places such as Pakistan, Philippines, Europe, because Dubai has a diversified society,” said Kunal.