Muzaffar Ali—the acclaimed filmmaker behind the classic movie Umrao Jaan, artist, and the Raja of Kotwara—has not just been a passive admirer of Dastangoi (the lost 13th-century art of Urdu oral storytelling). He has served as one of its most vital modern-day patrons and curators, pulling it out of near-extinction and placing it back onto grand cultural stages.
Through his Rumi Foundation, Muzaffar Ali has built massive platforms where Dastangoi is celebrated right alongside Sufi music, Kathak, and poetry.
The Wajid Ali Shah Festival: Held annually in Lucknow, this festival curated by Ali is heavily focused on reliving the legacy of Awadh's last Nawab. Dastangoi is consistently a premier highlight. At the festival, famous modern dastangos (storytellers) perform customized scripts like the Dastan-e-Wajid Ali Shah, which weaves historical facts of the Nawab's life and his painful exile into the spellbinding rhythmic prose of a traditional dastan.
Jahan-e-Khusrau: In his iconic world Sufi music festival held in Delhi, Ali frequently integrates seasoned Dastangoi practitioners to set the tone, recite classical lore, and explore themes of mysticism and historical romance before musical ensembles take the stage.
Muzaffar Ali’s entire creative life—whether through his movies (Gaman, Umrao Jaan, Anjuman) or his fashion house Kotwara—seeks to preserve the specific linguistic beauty and elegance of old Lucknow. Dastangoi aligns perfectly with this vision.
The Power of Language: Dastangoi relies entirely on the art of listening, voice modulation, and complex Urdu/Persian vocabulary. Ali uses his platform to ensure younger generations experience this spoken eloquence.
Expanding the Canvas: While traditional Dastangoi exclusively told the fantastical adventures of Amir Khusrau, Ali has championed modern adaptations. Under his curation, the art form is used to narrate the history of classical poetry, local legends, and the nuanced socio-political histories of the Indian subcontinent.
"Dastangoi is a journey into a lost world of stories... it interacts directly with human imagination."
By treating the old tradition as a living, breathing performance art rather than a museum piece, Muzaffar Ali has helped ensure that the spell of the Dastango continues to captivate modern audiences in Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai, and beyond.
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