Shama Zaidi

Shama Zaidi (born 25 September 1938 at Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India) is an Indian screenwriter, costume designer, art director, theatre person, art critic, and documentary filmmaker [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/person/206480/Shama-Zaidi Shama Zaidi filmography] "New York Times".] .

Biography

Shama Zaidi is the daughter of Col Bashir Hussain Zaidi (an administrator, businessman and politician) and Begum Qudsia Zaidi (a writer, social worker and theatre person).

She was educated at Woodstock School, Mussoorie, Uttar Pradesh, India. and at Miranda House, New Delhi, India. She has a B A Hons in English from Delhi University. She specialized in stage design, gaining a Diploma from the Slade School of Art, London, United Kingdom.

She is married to M S Sathyu (Filmmaker/ Designer/ Theatre person/ Art Director).

Career

Journalism

* Art critic for "The Statesman", "Patriot" and "Shankar's Weekly", New Delhi.
* Written numerous articles on film, theatre and television for "Cinema Vision", "Cinema in India", etc, and other journals and newspapers.

Theatre

Zaidi became interested in costume design while in school at Woodstock, Mussoorie, which had extensive theatre activities. Also due to the influence of her mother Qudsia Zaidi, who started the Hindustani Theatre in the late 50s with Habib Tanvir and other friends. In her college days at Miranda House she started helping out with the stage productions there, apart from taking active interest in Hindustani Theatre.

After B A Shama went to Slade School of Art, London, for a one year course in stage design and costume design. Then worked in Germany at the Frankfurt Municipal Theatre as an apprentice and for some time as an observer in the Berliner Ensemble. (Apprentice in stage, film and TV design to Herr Hein Heckroth, Frankfurt am Main, West Germany. Herr Heckroth was the designer of Red Shoes Hoffman’s Tales, etc.)

Returned to Delhi in 1961 and designed costumes for Hindustani Theatre before shifting to Bombay in 1965 where she worked as Writer, Designer, Performer and Director for Indian Peoples Theatre Association (IPTA), Mumbai. Since 1980 she has designed more for films and television than theatre.

Worked as Writer, Director, Costume Designer, Art Director or Artiste for the following stage productions -

tage Productions

* CHOU-EN-LAI , a historical costume pageant for at Lodi Gardens, New Delhi

Hindustani Theatre

* Shakuntala (1958) - Costume Design
* Mitti ki Gaadi (1958)- Costume Design & Artiste
* Khalid Ki Khala (1958)- Costume Design & Artiste
* Mudrarakshas (1962) - Direction & Costume Design
* Sufaid Kundali (1963) - Costume Design & Artiste
* Mera Naam Trufaldeen (1964)- Adaptation & Costume Design

Indian People's Theatre Association, Mumbai

* BHAGAT SINGH (1969) Co director & Costume Design;
* AAKHRI SHAMA (1969) Costume Design;
* AZAR KA KHWAB (1970) Costume Design & Artiste;
* GUDIYA GHAR (1972) Costume Design & Artiste;
* BHOOKE BHAJAN NA HOYE GOPALA (1973) Artiste;
* KHALID KI KHALA (1974) Costume Design & Artiste;
* SAMBHOG SE SANYAS TAK (1975) Costume Design;
* DEVYANI KA KEHNA HAI (1975) Direction & Costume Design;
* MITTI KI GAADI (1975) Costume Design;
* MAHANIRVAAN (1976) Direction & Costume Design;
* EK CHADAR MAILI SI (1966) Direction & Costume Design;
* GHODA (1991) Costume Design;
* SHRIMAN BALE UIRE (1992) Adaptation;Associated with the IPTA's Inter collegiate Drama Competition since 1972 as a jury member.

* Translated / adapted over a dozen plays into Hindustani from various languages.

Cinema

Written scripts/dialogues for documentaries and feature films with Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal, M. S. Sathyu and others. Also done Costume Design and Art Direction.

Filmography

* Charandas Chor (1975) (The Thief Charandas) Direction Shyam Benegal; Screenplay Shama ZaidiBased on Habib Tanvir's retelling of a famous Rajasthani folk tale. Songs were by Habib Tanvir and most of the dialogues were improvised by the folk artistes.

* Garam Hawa (Hot Winds) "1974 / Colour / 136min / Urdu" Direction M S Sathyu; Screenplay Shama Zaidi & Kaifi Azmi; Costume Design Shama ZaidiBased on a short story by Ismat Chugtai, which she expanded into a film treatment. Filmfare award for best screenplay.

* Manthan (The Churning) "1976 / Colour / 134min / Hindi"Direction Shyam Benegal; Art direction Shama Zaidi

* Shatranj Ke Khiladi शतरंज के िखलाड़ी(Chess Players) "1977 / Hindi"Direction Satyajit Ray; Costume Design Shama ZaidiAlso assisted Ray with research on the background material and translated dialogues with Javed Siddiqi for the Indian characters in Urdu.

* Kanneshwara Rama (The Legendary Outlaw) "1977 / Colour / 137min / Kannada & Hindi"Direction M S Sathyu; Script Shama ZaidiBased on the exploits of a legendary dacoit of the Malnad region in Karnataka.

* Bhumika (The Role) "1977 / Colour / 142min / Hindi"Direction Shyam Benegal; Art direction Shama ZaidiBased on the biography of Hansa Wadkar, a star of the Marathi folk theatre and cinema of the 40s.

* Umrao Jaan (The Courtesan) "Colour / Hindi"Direction Muzaffar Ali; Script Shama Zaidi & Javed SiddiqiBased on a 19th century Urdu novel.

* Chakra (The Wheel) "1980 / Colour / 140min / Hindi"Direction Robin (Rabindra) Dharmraja; Script & Dialogues Shama Zaidi & Javed SiddiqiBased on the novel by Jaywant Dalvi.

* BARA / SOOKHA (Famine) "1981 / Colour / 140min / Kannada & Hindi"Direction M S Sathyu; Screenplay & Dialogues Shama Zaidi & Javed SiddiqiBased on a short novel by U R Ananthamurthy.

* Aarohan (The Ascent) "1982"Direction Shyam Benegal; Script Shama ZaidiBased on a famous land dispute case.

* Mandi (The Marketplace) "1983 / Colour / 160min / Hindi"Direction Shyam Benegal; Script & Screenplay Shama Zaidi, Shyam Benegal & Satyadev Dubey

* Kahan Kahan Se Guzar Gaya (The Paths I Have Trod) "1985 / Colour / Hindi"Direction M S Sathyu; Original Screenplay Shama Zaidi

* Susman (The Essence) "1986 / Colour / 140min / Hindi"Direction Shyam Benegal; Screenplay Shama ZaidiOriginal screenplay on the Ikat handloom weavers of Andhra.

* Trikaal (Past, Present, Future) "1986"Direction Shyam Benegal; Screenplay Shama Zaidi & Shyam BenegalBased on an idea by Shyam Benegal.

* Antarnaad (The Inner Voice) "1993"Direction Shyam Benegal; Screenplay Shama Zaidi & Sunil ShanbagAn original screenplay based on the Swadhyaya socio-religious movement founded by Pandurang Shastri Athavale.

* Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda (The Seventh Horse of the Sun) "1994"Direction Shyam Benegal; Screenplay Shama ZaidiA puzzle screenplay based on the novel by Dharamveer Bharati.

* Mammo "1995"Direction Shyam Benegal; Screenplay Shama Zaidi & Khalid Mohammad

* The Making Of The Mahatma "1996"Direction Shyam Benegal; Script Shama Zaidi, Shyam Benegal & Fatima MeerAn Indo-South African co production on Mahatma Gandhi’s life in South Africa.

* Sardari Begum "1997 / Colour / 123min / Urdu"Direction Shyam Benegal; Screenplay Shama Zaidi & Khalid Mohammad

* NishantArt direction Shama Zaidi

* MrigtrishnaCostume Design Shama Zaidi

* Haribhari "2000 / Colour / Hindi"Direction Shyam Benegal; Script & Dialogues Shama ZaidiA film on women’s empowerment made for the Ministry of Family Welfare.

* Zubeidaa "2001/ Colour / Hindi"Direction Shyam Benegal; Additional screenplay and dialogues Shama Zaidi

* Netaji "2002-04/ Colour/Hindi-English"Direction Shyam Benegal; Script and Dialogues Shama Zaidi & Atul TiwariA film on the last years of Subhas Chandra Bose for Sahara Entertainment

* Chamki "2005-2006/ Colour/ Hindi"Direction Shyam Benegal; Screenplay and dialogues Shama Zaidi & Atul TiwariA film inspired by the 19th-century novella “Carmen” by Prosper Mérimée

hort Films

* GHALIB "1969 / B&W / 22min"Direction M.S.Sathyu; Research & Script Shama Zaidi.A documentary film on the life of Mirza Ghalib through his own words taken from his letters, poetry, writings, etc.

* ISLAM IN INDIA "1982 / B&W / 120 min"Direction Shama Zaidi.A feature length documentary on the socio-cultural heritage of Islam in India. Made for the Hijri Celebration Committee, Govt. of India., celebrating the beginning of the 15th century of the Islamic Era.

* LUPIN "1992"Direction Benaifer Mallik; Script Shama Zaidi.A short film on village adoption programme by the pharmaceutical company Lupin.

* LAMP IN THE NICHE "1994"Direction Girish Karnad; Script Shama Zaidi.A short film on the Sufi heritage in India.

Have also scripted a number of documentaries on developmental projects for Shyam Benegal and other directors.

Television

Have either worked on Scripts, Screenplays, Dialogues, Costume Design or Art Direction for the following television productions -

* BHARAT EK KHOJ (The Discovery of India) a TV Series - Shyam Benegal (1989-90) based on Jawaharlal Nehru's version of India's past and fictionalized into a 52 part television series. Principal writer cum editor (with Sunil Shanbag), Costume design and Art direction.

* KAYAR (Coir) a TV Series - M S Sathyu (1992)Based on a part of the novel by Thakazi Shivshankara Pillai and turned into a TV serial by Babu Bhaskar and Shama Zaidi.

* YATRA (The Journey) a TV Series - Shyam Benegal (1988)A television series based on two film journeys across the length and breadth of India. Written by Sunil Shanbag and Shama Zaidi.

* ANTIM RAJA (The Last Raja of Coorg) a TV Series - M S Sathyu (1986)Based on a novel by Masti Venkatesh Iyengar and written for television by Shama Zaidi.
* SWARAJNAMA A TV Series - Girish Karnad. (1998)

* SANKRANTI A TV Series - Shyam Benegal (1998)Assisted the ETV Television Network set up an Urdu channel ETV-Urdu and worked as a part-time Artistic Advisor for the same from October 1999- August 2002

References

External links

*
* [http://www.upperstall.com/films/garamhawa.html Garam Hawa]