Once upon a time in Delhi

Kulsoom Noor Saifullah and Begum Zakia Zaheer's Dastaan-e-purani Dilli is a musical narrated in colloquial Urdu, that attempts to encapsulate the essence of old Delhi before the mutiny. With its leisurely tone and charming little anecdotes, it depicts the time of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar.
“This was an attempt to bring back the romance of Purani Dilli.Many people say it was a lotus eating kind of existence. The pace of life was languid, but it was beautiful. I feel very happy when youngsters walk up to me and say they loved it because our objective is to tell the youth about this bygone era,” said Kulsoom Noor Saifullah, who was born and brought up in Delhi, but discovered the real charm of Old Delhi through an Italian friend.
The audience were left spellbound by Begum Zakia Zaheer and Begum Syeda Hameed's powerful narration, and Farhan Mujid's subtle renditions of Ghalib's poetry. 62-year-old SP Baid came out of the auditorium and was heard telling his friend, mazaa aa gaya. He told us, “I’ve grown up in Purani Dilli. It was so rich in culture and tradition. This was a great performance!”
Shivani Verma, a dancer from Shovana Narayan’s group performed mujra as part of the musical. “I was thinking I’m doing mujra on stage and my father is sitting in the audience. But seriously I love Kinaari Bazaar and Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi,” she said, breaking into laughter.