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Hindustan Times

Report: The 2025 Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival

The theme for the 16th edition of the Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival this year was 'Lucknow ke Gali-Kooche'. While a city is known by its grand monuments in the popular imagination, life takes place in the narrow lanes or galiyan which witness a whole array of diverse syncretic practices that preserve sociocultural memories. Held from 31 January to 4 February at Safed Baradari and Salempur Estate in Qaiserbagh, 'MSLF 2025', as its website states, encourages 'visitors to look beyond postcard-perfect landmarks and instead focus on the lived experiences of communities, the layers of history embedded in architecture, and the social complexities within these intimate spaces.' O Gaanewali celebrated figures such as Gauhar Jaan, Jaddanbai, Begum Akhtar and Shobha Gurtu (among others) through performances of iconic pieces from their repertoire. (L-R) Akshay Jadhav, Rutuja Lad, Avanti Patel, and Nusrat Apoorv. (Courtesy Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival) The Kids Corner AKA Masti ki Paathshala at Safed Baradari had art workshops, storytelling sessions, interactive games, DIY crafts and puppet shows. (Courtesy Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival) After the inauguration, Sabika Abbas regaled the audience with a Qissagoi performance on the little-known stories of her animated neighbourhood of Mashakganj. The Husn-e-Karigari Showcase, a first for the fest, followed it. In essence a fashion show, vendors and volunteers walked the stage wearing clothes and accessories from the stalls hosted in Safed Baradari to exhibit the wares on sale. The highlight that night was O Gaanewali, a critically acclaimed music show curated by Avanti Patel. The melodious renditions were interspersed with stories, anecdotes, historical titbits and glimpses of the socio-political context of the lives of women performers, especially tawaifs, who popularised the various semi-classical forms such as thumri, dadra, and ghazal that were a part of the show. Day two began with three car tours and a heritage walk — common for most mornings of the festival. Since they are programmed simultaneously, it was difficult to pick which one to go for as all are equally enticing. 'Feminists of Awadh par Salaam' was a celebration of the inspiring iconic women of Lucknow, 'Lucknow ki Rehaish' toured iconic havelis, kothis, and bungalows of the old city, 'War Chronicles' explored the Residency in the light of 1857. Other walks centred on the Qaiserbagh palace complex, Raja Bazaar in Yahiyaganj, Chowk, and Aminabad. MSLF also had food-related tours, from an early morning breakfast crawl to lunch at the ancestral home of the Habibullah family to a Miriyasin performance followed by dinner at Ahmad Manzil. Sopan Joshi (centre) explored the history and the cultures surrounding mangoes in a conversation with Himanshu Bajpai (left) and Jamal Kidwai (right). (Courtesy Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival) In the afternoon, a short film by Rohan Shivkumar — a Mumbai-based architect, urban designer and filmmaker — was screened. He also gave the Saleem Kidwai Lucknow Lectern Keynote Lecture on how time can be seen through the lens of a city, especially in pop culture, focusing on Mumbai. Sopan Joshi, author of Mangifera indica: A Biography of the Mango, expounded on the fruit and the unheard facts and stories surrounding it in an engrossing, and often hilarious, session. The evening announced itself with a customary round of Baitbaazi as two teams traded shers and showcased their knowledge of ghazals. Saturday closed with an electrifying qawwali performance by Shahid Sami Niyazi Brothers of the Rampur gharana that cast a spell on packed venue. The Qawwali performance by Shahid Sami Niyazi Brothers, which included 'Allah Hu', 'Bhar Do Jholi', and 'Kun Faya Kun' among other songs, was a fest favourite that drew the biggest crowd. (Courtesy Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival) Sunday began with a Hindustani Classical Seher Concert by Omkar Dadarkar at 5:30 AM. The afternoon was dominated by the Awadhi Home Cooked Food Festival where home chefs presented tasty recipes ranging from kebabs and qormas to regional veg thali, kheers and halwas. As usual, the lal mirch qeema and yakhni pulao sold out first but the raan musallam, murgh zafrani, and kali gajar ka halwa were showstoppers too in this gastronomic extravaganza. A series of interesting talks followed but a particular highlight of the afternoon was a session by Pooja Saxena, a typeface designer and lettering artist. She explored the typography of Indian street signs, bringing out what they can tell us about a city and its people. In the evening Daira, an art-rock band from Mumbai collaborated with folk musicians from Bastar in Chhattisgarh in a lively show that featured songs whose lyrics used Kalbi, Bhatri, Gondi and Hindi. Shilpa Mudbi (R) and Aditya Kothakota transported the audience into the mythical world of Goddess Yellamma through their take on a traditional musical play that posed questions regarding patriarchy, purity, and dominant power structures in society (Courtesy Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival) On the fourth afternoon, oral historian and social activist Sohail Hashmi regaled the audience with tales about different galis in Lucknow and Delhi while drawing connections between a city and its culture/s. This was followed by an absolutely mesmerising performance by Shilpa Mudbi and Adithya Kothakota who presented their own version of the Yellammanata, a ritualistic overnight play originating in Karnataka that relates the story of goddess Yellamma, the mother of Parashurama. The duo also spoke about their Urban Folk Project and all they learnt in the years they have spent travelling around Karnataka and learning and documenting its folk practices. Four short films that explored the lived experiences of both human and non-human denizens of Lucknow's dynamic gali-kooche were screened. The feature films Dhushor (Dir: Purandar Chaudhuri) and Imamdasta (Dir: Rizwan Siddiqui) were also screened. In the evening, actor Danish Husain narrated a fantastical story from the Tilism-e-Hoshruba as part of a dastangoi performance that left the audience in awe. The festival closed with a set by Wild Wild Women, India's first all-female hip-hop collective, whose linguistically-diverse songs touched on everything from women's rights, social activism, body dysphoria and gender inequality to power structures, mental health, and self-love. Tushar Kadam on percussion and actor Danish Husain presenting an excerpt from Tilism-e-Hoshruba (Courtesy Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival) Exhibits and installations have always been a big part of the festival and this year was the same. Taijasi Mishra's Life in the Bylanes was a huge painting that portrayed the daily rhythms of Lucknow's bustling side streets. Kothis in Our Gali by Aditya Vikram and Karan was a photographic exploration of the transfeminine worlds of Lucknow's working-class galis. Soumyadeep Roy's Huzn: City of Exile looked at the effects of Wajid Ali Shah's migration on the people around him in Lucknow and in Calcutta through a mixed media. The art fed into the décor — there was a functional paan shop and a non-functional 'saloon' at one venue. With its dynamic programme of events, handicraft and apparel stalls, and food counters, Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival 2025 definitely left a lasting impression. Areeb Ahmad is a Delhi-based writer and literary critic. He is @Bankrupt_Bookworm on Instagram.