Syed Sahil Agha reciting the "Dastan-e-Amir Khusrau"

Syed Sahil Agha[1] is a writer, author, and storyteller from New Delhi, India who specialized in the verbal art of dastangoi.[2]

Storytelling background

Agha performs dastangoi,[3][4] a 13th-century Urdu art of oral storytelling.[5][6] His first dastangoi performance was in college. Agha gave his first professional dastangoi performance in 2010 at Jamia while he ran a business selling antique vehicles.[7][8] He claims his grandfather was the inspiration for his work.[3]

Agha's book, Dastan-e-Hind, a collection of his dastans (or tales) and Indian folklore, has inspired successful performances by many artists around the globe.[9] Unlike most dastangos, Agha prefers to perform solo rather than as part of a pair. His dastans include Vikram-Betal and Tughlaqnama, which have become a hit amongst his audiences.[7]

He has also came up with a new idea of 'Musical Dastangoi' which has an amalgamated Dastangoi with Indian Opera and Indian classical music.[10]

Work

Biographical
Crime
  • Dastan Ek Raaz - A story within many stories, it's about metro cities' sex workers, their struggles and how they become victims of human trafficking.
Musical Storytelling
  • Dastan e Duvidha - Musical dastangoi; collaborated with opera singer Kabuki Khanna on a narration of Vijayadan Detha’s story Duvidha.[21][22]
  • Jashn e Virasat - Musical Tales of Urdu Heritage and Hindu-Muslim unity with Rita Dav and opera singer Kabuki Khanna.[23]
  • Dastan Ishq e Meera - Music and Kathak Dance narrative; Meera Bai was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and a devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint in the Indian Hindu tradition. She was a widely known and cherished figure in the Bhakti movement. The majority of the performance is about Meera's fearless disregard for social and family conventions.
  • Dastan e Sahir - The People's Poet; Abdul Hayee, popularly known by his pen name Sahir Ludhianvi, was a legendary 20th century Hindi and Urdu poet cum film lyricist who wasn't afraid to question society and its many ills. He was awarded the Padma Shri.
  • Dilli Durbar - A Sufi Jugalbandi and a unique amalgamation of ghazal and dastangoi with Imran Khan.[24][25]
Comedy
  • Mulla Dastango - An old storyteller, Mulla wrote stories that had subtle humour and a pedagogic nature.
  • Dastan e Mulla Nasreddin - He is considered a Sufi and a wise man, remembered for his funny stories and anecdotes. He appears in thousands of stories, sometimes witty, sometimes wise, but often as a fool or the butt of a joke too.
Satire
  • Tughlaq Nama - Political satire about Indian politicians and an exposé of the strong and corrupt nexus between politicians, criminals, businessmen, and police.[26]
Family Drama
  • Dastan e Zindagi - An Indian political family drama.
Indian Mythology
  • Dastan Vikram Aur Betaal - The concept of the story was based on Baital Pachisi, a collection of tales about the legendary King Vikram (identified as Vikramāditya) and a Vetala.
Motivational
  • Dastan e Azmat - This performance is based on the true life of Saint Mother Teresa, Mother of the Nation - India.

She was born in Skopje, and then moved to Ireland and later to India, where she lived for most of her life. She devoted her life to chastity, poverty, and obedience, and also professed a fourth vow — to give "wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor."

Historical Fiction
Thriller
  • Dastan e Anna - A love story between a female English secret agent and Indian Sultan.
Love Story
  • Dastan e Ishq - The story is inspired by an Ameer Khusro's traditional folklore.
Fiction
  • Dastan Akhri Dastango - The last storyteller.
Historical

Filmography

Television

Year Show Work Channel Ref(s)
2018 Ghalib Umrao Begum Writer DD Urdu [28]
2019 Dastangoi Writer - Performer Zee Salaam

Filmography

Year Film Work Channel Language
2019 Pari khana - Royal Courtesan of India Writer Sood Films Urdu/Hindustani
2020 Sanam Khana - Royal Courtesan of India Writer Netflix Urdu

Awards and honours

Vintage car collection

Agha, collecting vintage cars is a passion.[36][37] In the past years, he has collected several high-end British and German cars.[38][39]

References

  1. prakruti (30 November 2019). "On the art of storytelling: Dastango Syed Sahil Agha". www.purplepencilproject.com. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  2. Sahana lyer (29 February 2020). "Udaipur Tales Brings Alive the Art of Storytelling". outlooktraveller. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  3. 1 2 Pracheta Saha (21 November 2018). "Dastaan-E-Dastangoi: The Lost Art Form Of Story Telling". www.outlookindia.com. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  4. Danish Raza (7 December 2018). "The long and Short of Storytelling in India". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  5. Gulam Jeelani (1 November 2018). "A glimpse of Mahatma Gandhi's Life Through the Art of Dastangoi". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  6. "Storytelling from a cross-cultural perspective". www.norway.no. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  7. 1 2 Purnima Sharma (9 September 2017). "Medieval Art, New Interest". Deccan Herald.
  8. Vibor (1 November 2017). "noida literature festival highlight 2017". www.noidaliteraturefestival.com. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  9. "DastanGoi, Dastan-e-Amir kusrow". karmpatr.com. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  10. Syeda Eba (8 February 2020). "Dastangoi: Bringing stories alive". Millennium Post. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  11. "An enthralling collage of plays". Sohaila Kapur. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  12. Vikram Phukan (21 November 2019). "Diamonds in the rough". www.thehindu.com. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  13. "Pakistan's bowling Great Shoaib Akhtar to Grace Sharjah International Book Fair 2022". Daily Pakistan. webdesk. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  14. Mazhar Farooqui. "SIBF 2022: Shoaib Akhtar to attend show depicting his life story". klyoum.com. khaleej Times. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  15. Gulf News Report. "Meet Pakistani cricket legend Shoaib Akhtar at Sharjah International book fair". gulfnews.com. Gulf News. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  16. Team Brew. "Jashn-E-Javed Akhtar: An evening to celebrate his journey with shayari, Dastangoi and Intellectual Complements in Dubai". thebrew.ae. the brew. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  17. Nilanjana G. Javed. "Indian poet Javed Akhtar's story mesmerises audiences in Dubai". gulfnews.com. Gulf News. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  18. Gulam Jeelani (31 October 2018). "A glimpse of Mahatma Gandhi's life through the art of Dastangoi". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  19. Diwan Singh Bajeli. "The making of Mahatma". thehindu.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  20. Rana Siddiqui Zaman (15 March 2019). "Dilli Durbar 2019: A modern attempt at celebrating classical music and more". nationalheraldindia.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  21. Reem Khokhar (5 December 2018). "Curtains down at Udaipur's international storytelling festival". thehindu.com. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  22. Danish Raza (1 November 2018). "The long and short of storytelling in India". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  23. "Tales of Urdu Heritage and Hindu Muslim unity". Karmpatr. 1 November 2018.
  24. 1 2 "Dilli Durbar Introducing youngsters to classical Indian music". Team MP. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  25. 1 2 "Introducing youngsters to classical Indian music". Team MP. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  26. Dipanita Nath. "One Hundred Per Cent". The Indian Express. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  27. "Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai, Presidents 'Nairang-e DastanGoi'". web desk. thefinancialdaily.com.
  28. Vibor (1 November 2018). "SYED SAHIL AGHA – Shimla International Literature Festival 2018". shimlaliteraturefestival.com. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  29. "Storytellers Of 2020". Udaipur Tales. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  30. viewswall. "Sahil Agha, a distinguished Dastango, honored by DMC". www.viewswall.com. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  31. The Indian Awaaz. "Delhi Minorities Commission announces Awards in various fields". Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  32. Delhi Minorities Commission. "DMC 2019 AWARDS". Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  33. IANS (17 December 2022). "How India dressed up: National Museum recreates saga from old manuscripts". Business Standard. business-standard.com. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  34. newstodaynetwork. "वस्त्रों और परिधानों की कहानी, पांडुलिपि चित्रों की जुबानी". IANS. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  35. dailychhattisgarh news desk (17 December 2022). "वस्त्रों और परिधानों की कहानी, पांडुलिपि चित्रों की जुबानी". IANS. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  36. TOI (6 April 2022). "Delhi's vintage car lover who restores iconic beauties, watch!". timesofindia. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  37. Muttabi Ali Khan. "This Delhi man owns over 50 vintage cars". munsifdaily.com. munsifdaily. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  38. TOI (7 April 2022). "Delhi's vintage car lover who restores iconic beauties, watch!". the economic times (Panache). Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  39. IANS. "Meet Sahil Agha who owns over 50 vintage cars". ummid.com. ummid. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
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