Jaipur Literature Festival has begun in Jaipur and like every year, it is creating news for its fiery discussions and sessions. On Friday, veteran theatre director and actor MK Raina walked out of a session where he was a speaker along with actor Illa Arun.
MK Raina walks out of Jaipur Lit Fest
The two colleagues were promoting their memoirs during the session on the second day of the Jaipur Literature Festival. Raina has written Before I Forget and Arun has recently come out with Parde Ke Peechhey. The session was titled Memories from the Screen and Stage where Anjula Bedi joined the two in the session.
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During the conversation, Arun was discussing her latest play Peer Ghani, adapted from legendary playwright Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt and set in Kashmir.
Raina, who has grown up in Kashmir, then said he has been seeing less and less of the Valley in Indian theatres. "I'm sorry, I see bad films of Kashmir, accusing Kashmir of all kinds of things, lousy films... Kashmir is not being represented at all because they don't know that state, is my assertion," he added. A while later, he walked out of the session as Arun was performing a scene from her play Peer Ghani. It caused a flutter with people wondering what had happened.
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Ila Arun reacts
Someone then told Arun about Raina's departure from the session. "Albert Pinto ko gussa kyu aya?" Arun responded, referring to Saeed Mirza's 1980 film Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai.
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Curator Asad Lalljee moderated the session. Raina's memoir Before I Forget chronicles his life's highs and lows and his experience of growing up in Kashmir. Arun's book Parde Ke Peechhey documents her extraordinary life, both onstage and behind the scenes.
(With agency inputs)