by Subhash K Jha

The 14-year old journey of the play Tumhari Amrita has now crossed borders. On Feb 22, 23 and 24 Farouq Shaikh and Shabana Azmi performed three shows of their unstoppable play Tumhari Amrita in Pakistan.

Reveals Shabana, "We had two shows in Karachi and one in Islamabad. And we managed to raise Rs 1 crore for earthquake victims. The play has always got Farouq and I a standing ovation. But what we saw in Pakistan was unbelievable."

There were people who paid through their noses to stand in the aisles and watch us perform. The organizers were in tears. They wanted us for at least ten days. The President couldn't come because he was in China. But his mother and daughter came. All the movers and shakers of Pakistan were there."

Shabana laughs, "You know the original pile of letters that I to read on stage has gone from one hundred pages to three hundred because 'Tumhari' has to be written on one page and 'Amrita' on another. I can't read without my specs. I joke with Farouq that the play will follow us into the other world after death. And we shall be performing it there."

The actress recalls the response that play got when they performed it fourteen years ago. "When we did our first dress rehearsal we thought the audience will rain whip lashes on us. It was the worst dress rehearsal ever. Javed Saab looked at Farouq and I and said, 'You can't give a worst performance. But let me tell you the play will be a success.' We thought we'll have six shows of Tumhari Amrita at the most.

"The play's journey has been so tumultuous, gratifying and satisfying. The director Feroz Khan has lost all his hair. He says we can perform the play even in an airborne flight. Once at New Jersey Farouq and I reached two hours late because the driver lost his way. After the audience booed us it give us a standing ovation. You know once I was arrested just before a show of Tumhari Amrita."

Me and some slum dwellers were charged with rioting in a slum in Colaba when when we doing just the opposite. My show was at 6 pm. The 1000-strong audiences were told that the heroine was arrested. They had the choice of getting their money refunded. But all thousand members of the audience waited until 8 p.m when I was released. Then we got the most tumultuous standing ovation ever.

"Tumhari Amrita has given Farouq and me the ability to forget everything and just focus on the stage for two hours. We've performed three hundred shows and each time our eyes fill up with tears at exactly the same moments. It's because Javed Siddiqui has written the play so beautifully. And now it has brought India and Pakistan slightly closer."

Shabana feels it's time for the two countries to come really close. "There has been a sea change in Pakistan since I last shot there for Immaculate Conception in 1992. People really want to be friends. It's no longer the era of separate countries. If India and Pakistan work as one we can give the European union a run for its money."

Shabana feels it's time for the Indian and Pakistani film industry to go into co- production. "And I'm not just talking about releasing our films in Pakistan. That's very advantageous to us. But for them to feel enthusiastic we need to go into collaborative filmmaking. It would create an awareness in the world market. Pakistan has so many talented actors and writers.

It would be a win-win situation for both the countries. We have to set aside political consideration and get down to being friends. Contact on the non-political level seemed an impossibility fifteen years ago. Today people in Pakistan are dying to establish trade and cultural links between the two countries."