Sai Paranjpye Brings Solo Show Darwal to Basheer Bagh in Hyderabad

Padma Bhushan awardee and filmmaker Sai Paranjpye brought her intimate solo performance, "Darwal: The Fragrance of Words," to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Basheer Bagh, Hyderabad, revisiting the extensive body of work that has defined her career across radio, theatre, television, cinema, and literature.

The one-woman show assembled short stories, articles, poems, and scenes from her plays and films. Paranjpye, renowned for directing acclaimed films such as Sparsh (1980), Chashme Buddoor (1981), Katha (1982), and Saaz (1997), along with plays including Maza Khel Mandu De (1986) and Sakkhe Shejari (1982), used the stage to reflect on her primary identity as a writer.

Speaking on her connection with Hyderabad, Paranjpye noted that she has visited the city several times over the years. She recalled previous visits to meet her close friend, the late Dr Pushpa Mittra Bhargava, founder of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), with whose advice and guidance she had planned to make a scientific film.

Paranjpye explained that while she is better known as a director, writing has remained the central thread across her work in theatre, television, cinema, and children's theatre. The performance offered an opportunity to pause and look back on the writings that have accumulated over the decades.

Darwal draws from her memoirs and past projects, including readings from her book on Akashvani titled Saysangat (2026) and her 38-episode series for DD Sahyadri (Mumbai Doordarshan Kendra) titled Katha Saichi (2023). Moving beyond her professional milestones, the performance also shared personal memories, offering glimpses of her Russian artist father, her Padma Bhushan awardee writer mother, her grandfather, her travels, and her love for animals, including the emotional experience of meeting her father after many years and the loss of her grandfather.