Counted among the legendary drama writers of Kashmir, like Akhtar Mohi Ud Din, Som Nath Sadhu and Pushkar Bhan, Sajood Sailani believed in the silent workmanship and enthralled his captive audience during the golden theatre movement in the valley.
Before becoming Kashmir’s legendary dramatist who used his pen as means of social reform, Sajood Sailani (1936-2020) had worn many caps in his colourful career spanning over decades.
According to Kashmirobserver.net, he went on to write more than 150 radio plays, 27 full length stage dramas and 40 comedies in Urdu and Kashmiri languages.
But after surviving a stroke and remaining unwell for many years, Sailani finally breathed his last on Tuesday at his ancestral residence, Srinagar. He was 85.
Later, he would produce some of the powerful ‘nowhah’ writing depicting scenes of Karbala. A relative of late Ghulam Rasool Santosh and brother of prominent (late) painter Gayoor Hassan, Sailani eventually became a reckoning name in Kashmir’s drama world.
Born as Ghulam Mohammed Wani in a humble family in Dalgate Srinagar in 1936, Sailani’s dramas won accolades and admirers throughout his active-writing career.
Instrumental in forming the Wani Art Gallery frequented by the famous artists of the time, Sailani played an important role in popularising the modern Kashmiri theatre throughout 70s and 80s.
