At a Theatre Near You: Mareez

Vadodara may be the sanskarnagari of Gujarat, but Surat, too, can boast of a famous poet: Mareez. And, paying a tribute to the poet, the Mumbai-based theatre group Ideas Unlimited has arrived in the city to stage Mareez, a play based on the life of this poet who was born and brought up in Surat.

Under Manoj Shah's direction, the group will present the play based on Raeesh Maniar's book Mareez: Astitva Ane Vyaktitva at Gandhi Smruti Bhawan at 9.30 pm on Saturday. The play, written by Vinit Shukla, was acclaimed as one of the best plays at the recently concluded Prithvi Theatre Festival in Mumbai.

Said director Manoj Shah, 'Mareez is to Gujarat's ghazals what Mirza Ghalib is to Urdu poetry. The dramatic work shows Mareez as a lover of wine and women. A man reduced to selling his poetry to the rich, who then passed it off as their creations.'

Mareez was born into a middle-class family as Abbas Ali Abdul Ali Vasi on 22 January 1917. A primary school dropout, he began writing poems which found readership (initially to sit up and take notice — however, the respect never translated to real recognition, at least, till he breathed his last on October 19, 1983,' said Shah.

The play depicts how Mareez was forced to sell his creations. Rs 5 a poem, to budding poets who wanted to make a name for themselves. 'There was a rich Mumbai doctor who published an entire collection of Mareez ghazals under his name,' said Shah.

A veteran of 33 productions, Shah prefers to work with young and relatively unknown actors. 'Dharmendra Goel is playing the lead role. With a great cast, he depicts how Mareez grows from a charming young boy to a bright, old man addicted to alcohol.'