Almost like a grand finale to the annual Prithvi theatre festival, three dastans are being staged today, at the theatre built in Juhu by Jennifer and Shashi Kapoor in honour of the latter’s father, Prithviraj Kapoor. Presented by the Delhi-based Dastangoi Collective, Dastan-E-Guru Dutt, Dastan Raja Vikram Ke Ishq Ki and Dastan-E-Kabir are the three stories that will be narrated today. Dastangoi, an ancient form of story-telling which originated in Persia, and was dying out in India, was revived largely by dastango Mahmood Farooqui, with Anusha Rizvi producing the Collective’s rich trove of tales. Speaking to the narrators of today’s dastans a few days ago, I was struck by how they have expanded the scope of a traditional oral art to present lives and thoughts of personalities from diverse

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