Juhi Babbar’s ‘With Love, Aap Ki Saiyaara’ houseful

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Chandigarh, December 18

After two years of halt due to the Covid, NGO “Rani Breast Cancer Trust” (RBCT) brought an acclaimed play, “With Love, Aap Ki Saiyaara”, to the city. It was performed by Mumbai-based Ekjute Theatre Group on Sunday.

Formed in 1981, Ekjute Theatre Group has adapted works of several eminent playwrights such as Bertolt Brecht, Albert Camus and Badal Sircar. Numerous artistes, including MF Hussain and Pandita Uma Dogra, have closely worked with Ekjute on its productions.

The play is written and directed by famed film and theatre artiste Juhi Babbar Soni, who herself is the protagonist. She is the daughter of well-known actor Raj Babbar and theatre stalwart Nadira Zaheer Babbar.

Tagore Theatre was houseful as Juhi Saiyaara effortlessly dipped into various emotions of a woman and, in the process, explores her own identity. The play, besides capturing the emotions of the Covid and lockdown, is a relatable character of a passionate, urban and undaunted woman. The curiosity of audience also made the play conversational while Saiyaara was narrating her second divorce story. The character of Saiyaara was conceived by Nadira Babbar.

The play has been highly applauded among others by personalities such as Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Anupam Kher, Rajeshwari and Gurdas Maan.

The RBCT is bouncing back with its annual fundraising function and offered a different treat this time to the people in the city. In earlier years, well-known Bollywood and Punjabi singers performed at its functions. These included celebrated artistes such as Gurdas Maan, Rekha Bharadwaj, Harbhajan Mann, Satinder Sartaj, Jassi Gill and Bubble Rai and Nooran Sisters.

Bittu Safeena Sandhu, Managing Trustee, RBCT, said: “This year we felt that we should organise something different befitting the people of the city.”

Founded in 2007, the NGO spreads awareness about breast cancer by organising seminars, workshops and free mammography camps in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana. This year, it has embarked upon another new project, “Never Say Die” to help needy people between the age groups of 25 and 35 years to undergo heart surgeries. The project is in the memory of Dr Karan Sandhu, a multifaceted young man who lived by the motto, “Never Say Die”.