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Kadak Badshahi

Kadak Badshahi
Event-kadak
Directed by	Yadavan Chandran
Written by	Mallika Sarabhai Nisarg Trivedi
Running time	90 minutes
Country	India
Language	Gujarati

Kadak Badshahi is a historical play which depicts the 600 year old history of Ahmedabad, by telling various stories. It showed the journey of Ahmedabad from the city’s foundation to Mughal-era, British rule, growth of textile mills and various modern agitations. The play is created and directed by Yadavan Chandran, and is scripted by Mallika Sarabhai and Nisarg Trivedi. The play first premiered in November, 2014 when Malika Sarabhai decided to stage it on Ahmedabad’s 600^th Anniversary. It showcased various stories from Ahmedabad and celebrated the city’s history and culture.

Kadak Badshahi has also been described by many people as a Broadway show which honoured Ahmedabad in its true essence. The play also featured many famous hotspots of the city like Kalupur Railway Station, Manek Chowk, Adalaj ni Vav and many more. It also targets the speciality of Ahmedabad, that is, its masala chai and muskabun.  

To give the audience a feel of how Ahmedabad has evolved and how it was before, the viewers have to make their way through the old pols of Ahmedabad which were recreated at the entrance of the venue. A group of dancers performing garba were also seen. Some chai stalls and the famous and iconic stone window of the Siddi Sayyed Mosque also found its way, for the viewers to have an experience of the old ‘Amdavad’.

After the success of the play Kadak Badshahi, there have been talks about it being converted into a feature film. The work for the same is undergoing and the shooting for the film has already been started.

Synopsis

Kadak Badshahi and Kadak Badshahi 2.0 are the two plays which bring out the birth of Ahmedabad as a city and its 600 year long journey. The play gives an insight into the creation of Ahmedabad and portrays the creation of its heritage which has now been identified as The World Heritage City.

Kadak Badshahi focuses mainly on the history and the unique cultural heritage of the city. Starting from the story about Ahmed Shah Badshah - The Founder of the city Ahmedabad, to the oldest infrastructural spots and creations of the city which include, Teen Darwaza, Ellis Bridge, Siddi Saiyyed ni Jali, Sarkhej Roza and the list goes on. This play was written in order to mark the 600 year long journey of Ahmedabad. The play also focused on the Textile Mills Crisis of 1915 and its causes and consequences. The right given to the East India Company to trade in India was signed in Ahmedeabad which is witnessed by the Amdavadis through this play. The play also has a mention of the wide variety of food dishes that Amdavadis prefer over anything else which has a mention of Manekchowk area which is a gold jewellery market in the daytime and is a food hub at night. The play was a ten-day long affair at the Natarani Amphitheatre. The play not only showcases the Navnirman students movement but also others like the congress movement. The stories mentions the varied people ruling over Ahmedabad and talks about the various movements that took place and through architect B.V Doshi it also talks about the construction of Pols of Ahmedabad.

The USP of the play is that it specifies who plays what role in the creation of the city Ahmedabad and celebrates its heritage.

Title

The title Kadak Badshahi comes from a tea named after the founder of the city Ahmed Shah Badshah. People of Ahmedabad have a sincere love for tea. The time when people worked in mills to earn a living , chai became very famous. Since then the city has been crazy after tea. The tea vendors started giving different names to their chai. One of which was Kadak Badshahi. In the play Kadak Badshahi is used as a metaphor for people of Ahmedabad. Chai is a daily routine for most of the Amdavadis. Therefore the objective of the play is to celebrate the contributions of the unknown people who have shaped the city. The drama takes you back to the historic day in 1942 when the mill workers and Majoor Mahajan Sangh went on a long strike for the British to quit India, which is known as the Quit India Movement. It also takes the audience back to the time in 1974 when students in Gujarat fought against economic crisis and corruption in public life. The title is dedicated to these unsung heroes of all times.

Editions

Kadak Badshahi has been performed in two different editions, over a gap of 3 years.

First Edition

The first edition of Kadak Badshahi took place in the Natarani amphitheatre, which has an intimate space, from October 31, 2014 to November 9, 2014 with 11 consecutive shows. This was the very first time that Malika Sarabhai had staged her play. It was a huge hit and so, on demand the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts again staged the play every day from December 3, 2014 to December 9, 2014 at Natarani. And the last time that the first edition of this play was staged, was in January 2015. With this, Kadak Badshahi had been staged 33 times, over 3 seasons and had become a success in Ahmedabad.

Second Edition

The second edition of this play is called Kadak Badshahi 2.0. After the fame of the first edition, Malika Sarabhai decided to come up with its second edition, with a few changes involved. This took place at the Shreyas Foundation, which is a bigger venue than Natarani. When the second edition was going on, Natarani was being rebuilt and so they had to change the venue. The dates for Kadak Badshahi 2.0 were from January 18, 2018 to February 1, 2018. Sarabhai had also revealed that the second edition would be more focused on Gandhi's Satyagrah for Ahmedabad's mill workers as it completed 100 years in 2018. One more added feauture was "Navsarjan", which meant the performance of 30-40 dancers for 10-15 minutes in the beginning of the play. Kadak Badshahi 2.0 had a heritage angle to it also, as Ahmedabad was given the title of India's first heritage city by UNESCO, and so the writers thought the Amdavadis should know why their city got this tag. This newer version also included more about the Navnirman Andolan in 1974 which was started in Ahmedabad.

Famous Amdavadis in the Play

The play casts some of the makers of today’s Ahmedabad. Architect B V Doshi( a Padma Shri award winning Indian architect ) played the role of a narrator in the play talking about the heritage of the city. ‘Ek chai- teen rakabi’ (one tea and three saucers) is the symbol of city’s essence, according to renowned architect B V Doshi. This statement shows the tendency of Amdavadis to share their food. 

Manishi Jani (one of the leaders of the Navnirman Movement ) also featured in the play. She played the character of a leader of the Navnirman Movement in the previous version of the play. For the version 2.0 she said, “This  time we might be possibly bringing in other movements which have happened in Ahmedabad in the past. I will get to know that as soon as we start rehearsals.”  Appearance of another real time personality.

Ela Bhatt (a Padma sri and Padma Bhusan award winner and founder of SEWA) also acted in the play.

Famous dancer/choreographer Mrinalini Sarabhai( founder of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts) and Kumudini Lakhia( Indian Kathak dancer and founder of Kadamb School of Dance and Music) gave an appearance in the play as contemporary heroes where their work is shown through dance performances and dramatic enactments using attractive props and sets.

Social Contribution

Ahmedabad is now the 'World Heritage City', and the reason behind it, is the deep roots of tradition and culture in the city and its popularity till date. Kadak Badshahi also shows importance of traditions, culture and art in Ahmedabad. The money earned by the play were used for encouragement of art by rebuilding of Natarani - which is a hub for national as well as international arts. It bought many types of artists like painters, writers, dancers and singers together on a single platform which has never happened before, and they performed together which showed diversity in the society.

Kadak Badshahi showed how much people have suffered for the city. There have been many sacrifices which didn’t come into light and are known by very less people. With the help of this platform those sacrifices were showcased to audience and the Amdavadis. Everybody has heard about Manek Baba and Ahmed Shah, but nobody knows about the students, the Mill Workers, and Mahajan Majors who were the heroes behind the reforms. They were the one who bought the Revolution for the betterment. Adivasis and women also played very important role for Ahmedabad but hardly anybody knows that there were Adivasis in Ahmedabad. The people involved in Navnirman Moment - Manishi Jani, one of the people who was a part of the core team of Navnirman Movement, who supported Anna Hazare for the 'Fast Unto Die ' against corruption. Kadak Badshahi simply helped to give them credit for their hard work for Ahmedabad, and so in this way the play contributed to the society.