Web Desk (November 19, 2018): Faiz International festival continued till 18th November.
People made their way to celebrate the life, works and beliefs of the late great Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
Day one of the three-day festival began late in the day on account of it being Friday, with the first session of the opening day taking place at four in the afternoon.
Quite fittingly, the short 45-minute first session was a talk between the daughters of two of Urdu’s greatest poets and the most influential ones in the latter half of the 20th century.
Indian poet Javed Akhtar and actress Shabana Azmi reached Lahore to attend the Fourth Faiz International Conference that kicked off in Lahore at Alhamra Hall on 15th November 2018.
Shabana Azmi attended the program on Saturday while Akhtar attended a program on Sunday according to the organizers of the festival.
The couple thanked the people of Pakistan for inviting them to be a part of the festival that commemorates the celebrated poet of the subcontinent, Faiz Ahmed Faiz. The daughter of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Salma Hashmi and Muneeza Hashmi received the couple at Wagah Border in Lahore.
“We will never forget the love and respect which we received during the visit”, they said. On the first day of the festival, Saleema Hashmi and Shabana Azmi, the daughter of Kaifi Azmi talked about the friendship between Faiz and Kaifi Azmi at a session.
The festival was open and free of cost except for the performances of Tahira Syed, Zia Moheyuddin and Tina Sani. Some of the highlighting performances in the three-day-festival included Kaala Mainda Bhes, a play orchestrated by Ajoka theatre to celebrate the work of Madeeha Gohar, a dance performance called Saaqia Raqs Koi Raqs-e-Saba Soorat’ and reading by prominent figures, poetry, recital etc.
Popular Pakistani artist like Javed Sheikh, Samina Pirzada, Sania Saeed, Samiya Mumtaz, Saba Qamar, Imran Abbas, Samina Ahmed, Simi Raheel, Zeba Bakhtiar and Irfan Khoosat graced the event and participated in various programs and sessions at the festival.
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