playwright and director: Sujit Saraf

producer and dance director: Soumya Agastya

music director: Nachiketa Yakkundi

(in Hindi and English, with supertitles in English)

NAATAK opens its landmark 30th season with a timeless tale written specially for this occasion: an adaptation of the novel The Confession of Sultana Daku (Penguin, 2009), recounting the daring exploits of Sultana Daku – his thrilling raids, imaginative escapes, rise to notoriety, and dramatic capture by Freddy Young, the celebrated superintendent of police who, in 1924, finally put an end to Sultana’s reign of terror around Bareilly and Moradabad.

As the first in a long line of notorious dakus, Sultana Daku with his horse-riding gang has appeared in countless films, in Hollywood – The Long Duel (1967) starring Yul Brynner – and Bollywood – Sultana Daku (1973) starring Dara Singh – with his best-known avatar being Gabbar Singh in Sholay (1975).

With an enthralling new script that has never been performed before, the play will feature live music and dance, wit and humor, and energetic ‘svang’ performances that evoke 1920s India.