Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Theatre director-actor Aamir Raza Husain dies at 66

Husain is survived by wife-actor Viraat Talwar, and their two children Kaniz Sukaina and Ghulam Ali Abbas.

Theatre director-actor Aamir Raza Husain dies at 66

Veteran theatre director-actor Aamir Raza Husain, known for his larger-than-life outdoor stage productions, died in New Delhi at the age of 66.

Husain was suffering from a heart-related ailment and passed away on Saturday, his son said.


"He was hospitalised for two days and had undergone heart surgery, but wasn't able to recover. He passed away yesterday," Husain's son Ghulam Ali Abbas told PTI.

Having produced and acted in several plays, including over 91 productions and 1,000 plus performances with Stagedoor Theatre Company as its creative director, Husain was best known for stage spectacles such as The Fifty Day War, based on the 1999 Kargil War, and The Legend of Ram, inspired by the Hindu epic Ramayana.

He also appeared in the English film Kim (1984), based on Rudyard Kipling's novel of the same name, which starred Peter O' Toole in the lead, and the 2014 Bollywood movie Khoobsurat, featuring Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.

While The Legend of Ram, first staged in 1994, created waves with its multiple outdoor sets spread over 3 acres and a 100-member crew, The Fifty Day War went a step further -- featuring 140 actors, including Indian Army personnel, sets that move on rails, a life-sized helicopter exploding and a revolving platform taking an audience of 660-plus from one scene to another.

Hailing from an aristocratic Awadhi family of Lucknow, Husain was born in 1957 and was sent to Ajmer's Mayo College at the age of 10 in 1968.

After finishing his schooling, he went on to study history at St Stephen's College, New Delhi, where he acted in various plays, rubbing shoulders with noted directors such as Joy Michael, Barry John, and Marcus Murch.

Husain was honoured with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India, in 2001 for his immense contribution to theatre. In 2010, the Delhi-based thespian revived his production "Move Over", first staged at the official farewell function of President Shankar Dayal Sharma in 1997. It was staged in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, and several cities across India.

Several noted personalities took to social media to mourn the death of the eminent theatre personality.

Notably, Husain once served as vice president of the Delhi BJP. He resigned from the post in July 2013 after his statement against the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi anguished the party leadership.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who was also Husain's senior at St Stephen College, remembered him as a "larger-than-life" personality and recalled the time when he directed the "theatre giant" in an adaptation of the court-martial scene from American author Joseph Heller's classic play "Catch 22". "I met him at St Stephen's College when, as a talented fresher, he was cast in "Antony & Cleopatra". I then directed him in an adaptation of the court-martial scene from Catch 22 in a one-act play competition.

"Decades later I had the pleasure of meeting him again as a theatre giant & watching a couple of his plays. His passion & commitment defined him. He was larger than life, & today it seems life could not contain him & all that he offered it," Tharoor wrote in a tweet.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav too condoled Husain's demise.

"He was a true icon of Indian culture and his contributions to the world of theatre will be remembered for generations to come. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time," he tweeted.

Husain is survived by wife-actor Viraat Talwar, and their two children Kaniz Sukaina and Ghulam Ali Abbas.

More For You

Lubna Kerr Lunchbox

Scottish-Pakistani theatre-maker Lubna Kerr returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with 'Lunchbox'

Instagram/ lubnakerr

Beyond curries and cricket: Lubna Kerr’s 'Lunchbox' challenges stereotypes at Edinburgh Fringe

Acclaimed Scottish-Pakistani theatre-maker Lubna Kerr returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with Lunchbox – the final instalment of her deeply personal and widely praised ‘BOX’ trilogy, following Tickbox and Chatterbox.

Inspired by her own upbringing as a Pakistani immigrant girl in Glasgow, Lunchbox is a powerful one-woman show that tackles themes of identity, race, bullying and belonging through the eyes of two teenagers growing up on the same street but living vastly different lives. With humour, honesty and heart, Kerr brings multiple characters to life, including her younger self and a troubled classmate, as she explores whether we are shaped by our environment or capable of breaking the cycle.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tawseef Khan

Based on Khan’s lifelong proximity to immigration law

Instagram/ itsmetawseef

Tawseef Khan brings together justice and fiction in his powerful debut novel

Tawseef Khan is a qualified immigration solicitor and academic who made his literary debut with the acclaimed non-fiction book Muslim, Actually. His first novel Determination, originally published in 2024 and now available in paperback, brings his legal and creative worlds together in a powerful, emotionally rich story.

Set in a Manchester law firm, Determination follows Jamila, a 29-year-old immigration solicitor juggling frantic client calls, family expectations and her own wellbeing. Based on Khan’s lifelong proximity to immigration law, including his father starting a practice from their living room, the novel explores the human cost of a broken system with compassion, wit and clarity.

Keep ReadingShow less
Iman Qureshi’s play confronts
‘gay shame’ with solidarity

Iman Qureshi

Iman Qureshi’s play confronts ‘gay shame’ with solidarity

A NEW play looks at the cultural divisions in society, especially in the West, and shows how people can still come together and build a community even if they don’t always agree, its playwright has said.

The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs, by Iman Qureshi, follows a group of women, mostly lesbians, who come together to sing in a choir, while sharing their lives, making new friendships, experiencing love, and finding humour during their time spent together. Themes of identity, politics and personal struggles are explored in the story.

Keep ReadingShow less
20 Years of Sarkar: Amitabh Bachchan’s Defining Gangster Role

The 2005 film Sarkar explored power, loyalty, and justice in Mumbai’s underworld

India Glitz

20 years of 'Sarkar': Amitabh Bachchan’s iconic turn in a gangster epic

Dharmesh Patel

There have been many Hindi cinema projects inspired by Hollywood films, and Sarkar ranks among the finest. The brooding political crime drama, which paid tribute to the epic 1972 gangster film The Godfather, became a gritty, homegrown tale of power, loyalty and justice.

Directed by Ram Gopal Varma and set in Mumbai’s morally murky corridors of influence, the film centred on Subhash Nagre – a man feared, respected and mythologised. Played with majestic restraint by Amitabh Bachchan, the story followed Nagre’s control over the underworld, political power centres and a grey zone where justice was delivered through unofficial means. His sons, the hot-headed Vishnu (Kay Kay Menon) and the more composed Shankar (Abhishek Bachchan) – became central to this tale of betrayal, legacy and redemption.

Keep ReadingShow less
Michael jackson

It was part of a global promotional campaign for Jackson's HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I album

Getty Images

From a McDonald's to a nightclub: The strange afterlife of Michael Jackson’s giant statues

Key points

  • Ten giant Michael Jackson statues were built in 1995 to promote his HIStory album
  • The 32ft figures appeared around the world and followed him on tour
  • Some remain visible in places like Switzerland, Italy, and South Africa
  • Others have been removed or stored due to controversy after Jackson’s death and allegations
  • Owners now face challenges selling, relocating or preserving the monuments

A colossal promotion campaign

In June 1995, Londoners witnessed an unusual spectacle: a 32ft statue of Michael Jackson being floated down the River Thames. It was part of a global promotional campaign for Jackson's HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I album. A total of ten fibreglass statues were made, all modelled on the album cover image, and they accompanied the singer on his worldwide tour.

The statues were the product of a transatlantic effort. American sculptor Diana Walczak worked closely with Jackson to design a clay prototype. In the UK, artist Stephen Pyle oversaw the construction of the fibreglass versions, assisted by sculptor Derek Howarth and a team based at Elstree Studios. Built in just four months, the statues bore some differences from the original prototype due to limited access.

Keep ReadingShow less