
Meet the storytellers
In the past editions, the festival had Dastangoi, Qissebazi, Powada, Kesar-saga, and Kerala shadow puppetry amongst others. This year the festival will host international storytellers who will bring stories of their culture and social life.
Neil Phoenix from the United Kingdom popular as the ‘rockstar of British storytelling’ and has a repertoire of folk tales, fairy tales and urban legends to retell will regale the city’s audience.
Estonia’s Polina Tšerkassova, a cultural anthropologist, will present a blend of music and narration.
“I have stories for all age groups, be it children or adults. I use the power of music to tell stories and play with a range of instruments which I learnt during my travels. At Kathakar I will be telling magical folk tales in simple English,” she said.
The festival is also attended Usifu Jalloh from Sierra Leone famous for his documentary, The Cowfoot Prince. He will narrate stories from his hometown of Kamakwie in West Africa.
“I will be sharing transformative stories full of humour, music, and dance through a highly interactive narrative. They are woven around life and love for all beings. You will also get to hear the djembe drum, congoma thumb piano and Fulani flute which will be used as part of the narration.”
Naama Tel Tsur from Israel will bring nature into her narration. As a member of an Arabic-Jewish theatre group, she performs in Hebrew and Arabic and will take the audience through life in Israeli society.
It is not every day that filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, musicians Lucky Ali and Mohit Chauhan, director Sajid Ali and composer Shantanu Moitra appear on one stage. At the 18th edition of the upcoming Kathakar International Storytellers Festival — touted as India’s only oral storytelling event — creative forces will come to Delhi to celebrate the craft of storytelling from January 31 to February 2 at Sunder Nursery.
The festival organised and curated by sisters Rachna, Prarthana and Shaguna Gahilote, will bring storytellers from the United Kingdom, Estonia, Israel, Sierra Leone and India.
It will also have exciting musical acts by Rajasthani folk singer Kutle Khan Manar, singer Bhupinder Babbal, along with insightful talks led by Mohit Chauhan, Lucky Ali, Sajid Ali, Shantanu Moitra, and Imtiaz Ali.
Mohit, the chief patron of the festival says, “This year Kathakar will be on a tour to four cities — Delhi, Jodhpur, Jaipur and my home state Himachal. We will not just tell stories but also talk about the importance of storytelling in everyday life, cinema and music. We will hear stories passed down to us through literature, mythological scriptures and folklore.”
Talk sessions
The audience will witness a conversation between Lucky Ali and Mohit Chauhan, both of whom started their journey 25 years ago. Their friendship and break into the music industry will give insights into Indie pop music, how they made a mark in Bollywood music, their experiences around hit songs and how to stay relevant with time.
Bhupinder will talk about Punjabi folk music. Further, the festival will also present the screening of films like Laila Majnu, and Chamkila, which will be inaugurated by writer and director, Sajid Ali.
“We travel to different countries to gather the essence of the land, lives, and surroundings to understand the character and present the same before you," says Sajid.
"The silver screen often takes direct and indirect inspiration from the very stories we gather,” he adds.
Sajid will be part of the session ‘Kissey, Kahani aur Guftagu’ at Kathakar.
With a range of stories from across the globe, the festival hopes to cut across generations.