Anwar Maqsood's 'Pawnay 14 August' to be presented in UAE

DUBAI: Ironic play ‘Pawnay 14 August’, written by Anwar Maqsood, who has had a glorious 45-year career weaving his storytelling magic on TV will be presented in Dubai tomorrow (March 20), ARY News has learnt.

Pawnay 14 August will be performed at the Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Centre, Mall of the Emirates, on March 20 at 7pm. The play which is the KopyKat production and directed by Dawar Mehmood is a satirical look at the current state of affairs in Pakistan through the eyes of three of its forefathers – Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Iqbal and Maulana Shaukat Ali.

This is the first time that Maqsood has written a play. And according to foreign media Anwar Maqsood is very excited about bringing his play to Dubai.

“We have completed around 300 packed shows in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. This is the first time we are going out of our country. I can vouch that in the history of Pakistani theatre, this is the most successful play so far”, he added.

Pawnay 14 August is a thought-provoking story of what Pakistan was perceived as and what Pakistan has become today. Revolving around three principal characters, Mohammad Ali Jinnah (Quaid-i-Azam), Allama Iqbal and Maulana Shaukat Ali, the play places them in modern day Pakistan. Filled with questions and curiosity, the story is replete with a variety of characters representing Pakistani society, from politics, business and military to the film world. The setting is Karachi airport where each passenger is a storyteller.

This play is the first part of the trilogy that will end with Saade 14 August, which will premiere on August 14. 

The third play will feature Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Mountbatten and Edwina Mountbatten, Benazir Bhutto and Maulana Azad amongst other prominent figures from India and Pakistan, and will have all the characters sitting near the Indo-Pak border and discussing the relationship between two countries in a satirical fashion.

After the Dubai schedule, the troupe has further shows in the USA and UK.