Singer, actress, playwright and one of the founders of popular theatre group Surnai, Ila Arun has a lot to tell, and it goes into her autobiography, Pardey Ke Peechhay, released on the closing day of the Tata LitLive Festival in Mumbai.
Gaurav Sharma moderated the discussion about the book and its author with Vidya Balan and Anjula Bedi, who documented Ila Arun's words. Balan was an enthusiastic participant, she had read the book and come prepared, and had a bunch of stories to tell about her interactions with the senior actress on the sets of the films they did together. Later Balan got up and danced to Rajasthani folk tunes and steps. What brought the house down, however, was Ila Arun's performance as Gandhari witnessing the massacre of her sons after the Kurukshetra battle and cursing Lord Krishna, an excerpt from Dharmvir Bharti's classic ANDHA YUG. Her gritty voice and expressive face brought to life a mother's anguish, and got her a standing ovation. Later, fans queued up to get the book signed by her.
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