Jashn-e-Rekhta

Ali Fazal comes to Jashn-e-Rekhta for a warm, candid, and deeply reflective conversation on cinema, Urdu, poetry, ambition, and the stories that shaped him.Opening with a nazm, Ali moves from the grace of Lucknow’s tehzeeb to his childhood memories of films, books, and language. He speaks about being born in Delhi and raised in Lucknow, the influence of his mother, his early connection with theatre and Shakespeare at Doon, and the difficult years that taught him fearlessness.The conversation also traces his journey from Bollywood to Hollywood, including Victoria and Abdul, Death on the Nile, and his work as a producer with Pushing Buttons Studios. Ali reflects on craft, ambition, plagiarism versus inspiration, Urdu pronunciation in cinema, the responsibility of artists, and why he still feels he has not “arrived.”From personal memories to sharp industry observations, this session brings together cinema, literature, language, and a rare honesty that stays with you long after the conversation ends.

Piyush Mishra brings his full self to this live Jashn-e-Rekhta session, sharp humour, raw memories, music, poetry, and the kind of honesty that refuses to sound rehearsed.In this conversation, he opens up about love, heartbreak, and why today’s fast-moving Gen Z relationships often miss the patience and depth of old-school romance. He speaks about acting as imagination, not just technique, and shares hard-earned truths from his early Mumbai days, when survival, writing, theatre, and cinema were all part of the same struggle.The discussion moves from NSD and the myth of instant fame to the emotional cost of chasing art in a city like Mumbai. Piyush Mishra reflects on guilt, ego, Vipassana, alcoholism, truth, and the personal battles that shaped his voice as an artist. He also recalls Anurag Kashyap, Kay Kay Menon, and the creative integrity behind Black Friday.Alongside the conversation, the session carries powerful musical moments and memories connected to Ek Bagal Mein Chand Hoga, Aarambh Hai Prachand, and Husna. From Bhagat Singh and Faiz Ahmad Faiz to Partition pain and the loneliness of the artist, this episode is a rare mix of laughter, confession, music, and literary fire.Listen to Piyush Mishra at his most unfiltered, poetic, funny, wounded, and alive.

Saadat Hasan Manto was not a writer who allowed anyone to stay comfortable. In this powerful conversation from Jashn-e-Rekhta, filmmaker Nandita Das and actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui join RJ Sayema to speak about bringing Manto’s life, mind and contradictions to the screen.Nawazuddin reflects on playing Manto and the strange after-effect of carrying his honesty into real life. Nandita Das explains why the film stays rooted in the years around Partition, from 1946 to 1950, and how Manto’s questions around identity, religion, nationalism, women and censorship continue to feel unsettlingly current.The conversation also goes behind the scenes of recreating 1940s Lahore, holding a creative line, and understanding Manto’s writing as something plain, sharp and impossible to ignore. For anyone interested in Urdu literature, cinema, Partition stories, or the life of Saadat Hasan Manto, this is a rare and deeply revealing listen.

Some nights are not just heard. They are felt.In this Grand Mushaira from the Jashn-e-Rekhta stage, some of India’s most loved poets come together for an unforgettable evening of Urdu poetry, emotion, wit, reflection, and live mehfil energy. From the first sher to the final applause, the atmosphere carries the warmth of a packed audience listening, reacting, smiling, and sometimes falling completely silent.Hosted with grace and command by Azhar Iqbal, the evening moves through many shades of poetry. Ajm Shakari brings ghazals filled with heartbreak, pride, and emotional intensity. Nausha Israr speaks of homeland, hope, distance, and belonging. Shik Kaifi delivers sharp, memorable lines that make the audience pause and smile. Hilal Fareed brings poetry with a social and political pulse. Then comes Javed Akhtar, whose words cut through noise and reach straight into thought. The mehfil closes with the timeless elegance of Waseem Barelvi, reminding everyone why the ghazal still holds such power across generations.This episode is for anyone who loves shayari, ghazals, Urdu adab, live mushairas, and poetry that speaks about love, loneliness, truth, society, language, memory, and the delicate relationship between words and meaning.

In this live talk at Jashn-e-Rekhta, Swami Oma The Akk speaks of Urdu not as a language alone, but as a maashooq. Something intimate, fragrant, elusive, and deeply felt. Through the poetry of Meer, Ghalib, and Iqbal, he opens three ways of seeing life. Meer becomes the voice of loss, surrender, memory, and the pain that softens the soul. Iqbal stands for courage, becoming, and the pull of the future.Ghalib lives in the present. Restless, witty, rebellious, and brave enough to argue with the divine.The talk moves beautifully between ishq, fanaa, tajalli, sukoon, grief, hope, and inner fire, while the Yamuna becomes a powerful metaphor for damaged beauty that still flows with meaning. Swami Oma The Akk also reflects on how Rekhta has opened Urdu to wider audiences through Devanagari, Roman script, and digital access.

In this episode at Jashn-e-Rekhta, we explore the timeless poetry and lasting legacy of Meer Taqi Meer, the poet many revere as Khuda-e-Sukhan. Through an engaging conversation featuring Farhat Ehsas, Shafey Kidwai, and Sarfaraz Khalid, this session looks at how Meer shaped the emotional language of Urdu poetry and gave the ghazal a voice that still feels alive today.The episode reflects on Meer’s extraordinary journey, his gift for turning everyday language into great literature, and the deep emotional current, or rawani, that makes his poetry unforgettable. It also draws a fascinating comparison between Meer and Mirza Ghalib, placing feeling and thought side by side in the history of Urdu verse. From his masnavis to Zikr-e-Meer, and from the fall of Delhi to the rise of Rekhta, this is a rich and rewarding listen for anyone who wants to understand the soul, softness, and truth of classical Urdu poetry.

In this episode of Rekhta Guftgu, actor Ali Fazal opens up like never before. From being born in Delhi and growing up in Lucknow, to discovering theatre at school, chasing independence in college, and finding his way through films like 3 Idiots, Fukrey, Victoria & Abdul, and Mirzapur, this is a conversation full of honesty, memory, craft, and culture.Ali speaks about childhood, literature, sports, auditions, failure, friendship, acting as a lifelong learning process, and why vulnerability matters to great performers. He also reflects on Urdu, poetry, Rekhta’s role in preserving language and culture, the importance of script and expression, and even sings a few lines penned by Muhammad Iqbal.It is a beautiful conversation on art, identity, language, and what it really means to be understood.

In this episode of Rekhta Guftgu, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali opens up about the failures, doubts, and turning points that shaped his journey long before Bollywood success found him. In a deeply honest conversation with Irfan, he reflects on failing ninth grade, discovering theatre at Hindu College, finding creative grounding with Act One, and arriving in Mumbai without a fixed plan.He talks about learning filmmaking on the job through television, the uncertainty of early rejection, and the long road to finding his voice as a director. The conversation also moves into the heart of storytelling, how stories choose us, what changes when stars and budgets enter the picture, and why a filmmaker must protect their inner truth even under pressure.This is about identity, language, belonging, ambition, and the courage to go deeper in life and art.

In this episode, Raj Babbar and Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub join Ambreen Khan for a warm, deeply personal conversation on Urdu, Hindustani identity, cinema, theatre, and the shared cultural memory of India.Raj Babbar looks back at the home he grew up in, where the Urdu newspaper Milaap arrived regularly and even the Gita was read in Urdu script. From childhood memories linked to Ghalib and Nazeer Akbarabadi to his early theatre training, he speaks about pronunciation, discipline, pauses, and why language shapes performance. Zeeshan Ayyub reflects on upbringing, social responsibility, NSD, mentors, and the need to protect a shared Hindustani spirit that cannot be reduced to religion or labels.The episode also moves into acting craft, the emotional truth behind performance, choosing roles, creative restlessness, and why AI may imitate technique but cannot replace lived human experience in art. There is humour too, with rapid-fire moments on Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, romance in Urdu, and anger in Punjabi.

In this Guftgu episode, Manoj Bajpayee speaks with unusual honesty about cinema, craft, and the kind of inner life that keeps an actor growing. He reflects on how the pandemic changed theatres, streaming, and the way people now live with stories, fear, and habit. He believes cinema will return, but not in the old way, and makes a strong case for theatres and OTT existing side by side.The conversation then moves into acting in a way listeners rarely get to hear. Manoj breaks down his preparation for Aligarh, from Marathi literature and music choices to gait, backstory, and the tiny behavioral details that make a performance feel lived rather than performed. He also speaks about Barry John, realism, simple living, and why craft matters more than image. The episode closes on poetry, with powerful readings from Dinkar and Dharamvir Bharati’s Andha Yug, revealing how literature, rhythm, and voice shape the actor behind the screen.

In this episode, singer Shilpa Rao reflects on the journey that shaped her, from growing up in Jamshedpur to building a career in Bollywood and independent music. Before becoming one of the most loved voices in Indian music, she worked as a jingle singer, and slowly found her space through discipline, patience, and deep faith in her craft.Shilpa speaks about her debut with “Javeda Zindagi” from Anwar, the song that introduced her to a wider audience, and shares how riyaz, taleem, and faith in music have remained the foundation of her life. The conversation moves through her early struggles, her approach to singing, her musical influences, and the emotional truth she brings to every performance.

In this striking Jashn-e-Rekhta segment, Zehra Nigah is introduced as the presiding voice of the mushaira and delivers a reading that feels both lyrical and razor-sharp. She begins with her nazm “Jungle Ka Qanoon”, a poem that builds with quiet control before landing its political force. She then moves into a ghazal marked by images of greed, trees, and the fear of dawn. This episode brings together the authority of Zehra Nigah’s voice, the depth of Urdu poetry, and the unsettling beauty of verse that still speaks directly to our times.