Padmini Kolhapure on playing Begum Akhtar on stage: I almost ran away | Exclusive

Padmini Kolhapure, sister Tejaswini Kolhapure and Talat Aziz have joined hands to bring the life of ghazal legend Begum Akhtar to stage in a play called Ammi Akhtari

We all know about Padmini Kolhapure and her family's rich musical legacy. The actress, who herself dabbles in music occasionally, is now bringing another legendary artist's life to the stage. Ammi Akhtari is a play on the life of ghazal legend Begum Akhtar. Directed by Saif Hyder Hasan, the play has Padmini playing Begum Akhtar, while her sister Tejaswini Kolhapure plays her shagird. Ghazal maestro Talat Aziz will be singing Akhtar's ghazals live on stage. The play will be staged on October 25 and 27 in Mumbai.

Padmini on challenges of playing Begum Akhtar

Talking about the challenges of playing the legendary artist on stage, Padmini said, “Our director and producer Saif ji approached me with the script and said I have this beautiful script, I want you to play Begum Akhtar. I almost ran away. But he said, read the script, I really want you to be part of this. I was even more nervous after reading the script, especially because the dialogues are in Urdu.”

This is the first time Padmini and sister Tejaswini are collaborating on a project. “I have worked with Saif before in a film called Yes Papa, so that’s when we approached me for this play. Padmini needed a little more prodding and coaxing because she wasn’t sure and she is also busy with other things,” Tejaswini said.

Capturing the gravitas of Begum Akhtar's singing

It was Tejaswini’s idea to get Talat Aziz on board to sing Begum Akhtar’s ghazals live on stage instead of approaching a female singer. “When it comes to ghazals, it doesn’t matter whether the singer is male or female. There is a depth to it, gravitas. You need that maturity to sing and express. Begum Akhtar’s style of singing is unique, no one can replicate that. But you can try and absorb her temperament of singing. I have sung her songs as part of my concerts all over the world. The challenge here was to sing these as part of a play at crucial moments which were being enacted by these two actors,” Talat explained.

Padmini added, “This is something unique and out of the box – bringing the play and ghazals both together. I think something like this is being done for the first time.”

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