Javed Akhtar, Prateek Kuhad to headline Repartwahr Festival in Lucknow

Lucknow’s most-awaited four-day Repertwahr Festival is less than a month away but will be staged at a new venue.
An elaborate line-up of theatre and stand-up artistes, singers, writers, a food arena and a bazaar is in store for attendees. Legendary writer Javed Akhtar, singer Prateek Kuhad, Agnee Band, poet-writers in the literature arena and comedy acts by Gaurav Kapoor, Harsh Gujral and Ravi Gupta will be the highlight this year.
After making a comeback last year at La Martinere College, this year’s edition will be held at the sprawling Janeshwar Mishra Park, Gate 6, from December 19. This year’s fest will be spread across four days.
“We started as a theatre festival and then music and stand-up were added followed by our Shabd (literature) section. Last year, we added pop-ups and food and this year we are adding a bazaar to it which makes it the country’s most unique festival where we celebrate everything around performances. We have again curated the best of plays from different genres which will be staged at the make-shift area with covered black box for the first time,” says the event’s organiser, Bhoopesh Rai.
Magnum opus play Mughal-e-Azam fame director Feroz Abbas Khan is bringing his play Hind 1947, which stars Sachin Khedekar and Sonal Jha, writer-director Faezeh Jalali’s play Runaway Brides will have actor Aamir Khan’s son, Junaid Khan, and Anoushka Zaveri in the star cast. In contrast, director Atul Kumar’s play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time based by Mark Haddon’s famous book.
“Writer-poet Javed Akhtar will be the highlight of our literature section with names like writer-performer Azhar Iqbal, Priya Malik, Laksh Maheshwari, Raman Negi, Eishita Chaturvedi and Rahgir. Our stand-up comedy line-up is also very strong. Prateek and Agnee are very popular but DJ Karan Kanchan and Thaikkudam Bridge group will also rock the stage. We have ticketed in a way that visitors will get access to Shabd arena, bazaar and food stalls on the entry ticket. Rest plays, comedy and music are ticketed separately,” says the festival’s co-founder Priyanka Sarkar.
Besides, artistes from Lucknow will be given a platform titled Fankar at Sabdh manch in which they will be given a chance to perform.
December 19
Prateek Kuhad
December 20
Azhar Iqbal
Eishita Chaturvedi
Gaurav Kapoor
Play Hind 1974
Thaikkudam Bridge band
December 21
Laksh Maheshwari
Rahgir
Javed Akhtar
Harsh Gujral
Play Runaway Bride
DJ Karan Kanchan
December 22
Raman negi
Ravi Gupta
Play The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
Agnee Band