Name: Ek Lamhaa Zindagi – A Love Story (1938–1979)Genre: Biographical romantic dramaRating: 3.5 starsCast: Juhi Babbar SoniDirectors: Makarand Deshpande and Juhi Babbar SoniDuration: 90 minutes
Language: Hindi-Urdu (Hindustani)
Solo performances on stage are a demanding theatrical form. An actor has to move between characters, moods, perspectives and emotions, sometimes within seconds, while maintaining complete physical and emotional control.Keeping an audience invested for 90 minutes without a co-performer to share the energy requires a formidable stage presence and an equally strong command of storytelling. Juhi Babbar Soni takes on all these challenges in Ek Lamhaa Zindagi – A Love Story (1938–1979) and gives life to Ekjute Theatre Group’s deeply moving biographical play about her grandparents, writer Razia Sajjad Zaheer and writer-politician Sajjad Zaheer.Directed by Makarand Deshpande and Juhi, the play is rooted in the true story of the couple and has been written by Razia’s daughters Nadira Zaheer Babbar and Noor Zaheer, along with her granddaughter Juhi. The result is a fine amalgamation of emotion, information and wit. More importantly, it brings alive a relationship built on equality, companionship and a shared sense of purpose.And this is not merely a love story, as the title suggests. It journeys through four transformative decades of Indian history, encompassing the freedom movement, Independence, Partition and the post-Independence era. Sajjad’s political commitments, imprisonment and prolonged separation from Razia are part of a larger narrative about a couple negotiating love and family against a rapidly changing country.The writing’s greatest strength is that it doesn’t allow the historical backdrop to completely overshadow Razia’s own story. She emerges not simply as the wife of an influential writer and political activist, but as a writer, woman and individual with her own aspirations and emotional landscape.Juhi is at the centre of this experience and handles the transitions with remarkable ease. It is particularly delightful to watch her move from a nine-year-old child to a woman in her late sixties, and then inhabit characters such as her mother-in-law, Lady Boss, and Sajjad himself — entirely through changes in voice, physical expression and emotion, without a single costume change.Yet, the sheer sweep of four decades occasionally makes the play feel information-heavy. A tighter focus on a few emotional moments could’ve made their impact even more powerful.Still, Ek Lamhaa Zindagi succeeds where it matters most: it turns a family archive into living theatre.
SHOULD YOU WATCH THIS?
Yes, especially if you enjoy intimate, performance-driven theatre that blends personal stories with history and poetry.Where to watch: Prithvi Theatre. Sat 26 Sep, 9pm