Memories of an Event Arranged by The Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association of New Jersey & Pennsylvania
By Siraj Khan
March reminds me of many things. One of them is the event NAGEENAY same time last year in NJ, hosted by The Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. This was the third stage presentation of the original AAINA creation in Boston, which I was privileged to script and direct.
I flew in from Dubai to join the team in Boston and we all drove to NJ to stage our performance. One of the luminaries of AMU, whose work we were showcasing, was DrRahiMasoom Reza. It so happened that it was also DrRahi's 25th death anniversary. It is that time of the year again. His contribution to Bollywood goes beyond a class act of 200 films - dialogues, script, screenplay, lyrics you have it all, overflowing like a fountain. What amazes me most about DrRahi is his writing the script for Doordarshan TV series Mahabharat, based on the Hindu epic of the same name. The 94-episode TV series ran from 1988 to 1990. If to chose a Muslim by film icon BR Chopra to do that job was daring, what DrRahi delivered was nothing short of phenomenal. Art belongs to the whole world.
It was never planned to be like this, but I did hand-carry three trophies of DrRahi'sFilmfare Awards with me in each of those three events - AAINA, AAINA dar AAINA and NAGEENAY. The trophies were for Mili, Mein TulsiTereAngan Ki and Lamhe. Tawaif will go in the next one, whenever that takes place.
Here are some pictures of the three events held in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
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