Inder Sabha is an Urdu play

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 and opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 written by Agha Hasan Amanat

Agha Hasan Amanat

Agha Hasan Amanat was an Urdu poet, writer and playwright of the nineteenth century from the Indian city of Lucknow. He was affiliated with the court of Wajid Ali Shah, the princely ruler of Awadh. His name was Agha Hasan Ali, while "Amanat" was his nom de plume . He is also referred to as Amanat...

, and first staged in 1853. It is regarded as the first complete Urdu stage play ever written. The play was translated into German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 in 1863 by Friedrich Rosen

Friedrich Rosen

Friedrich Rosen or Fritz Rosen was a German Orientalist, diplomat and politician...

, and published to positive critical reception. A movie, Indrasabha, based on the play was released by Madan Theatre

Madan Theatre

Madan Theatre Company, also known as Madan Theatres Limited or in short, Madan Theatres was a film production company founded by Jamshedji Framji Madan, one of the pioneers of Indian Cinema....

 in 1932.

The play

The opera is set in the celestial court of Indra

Indra

' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...

, the king of the gods (devas) in Hindu mythology

Hindu mythology

Hindu religious literature is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Nepali and Indian culture...

. The play is written entirely in verse, and the central theme is a romance between a prince and a fairy. Operatic devices such as fireworks and masks are employed in enacting the play. Although the play was initially intended to be performed in royal court, songs from the play influenced the geet tradition in Urdu and quickly transitioned into popular culture, where "for at least two generations after that, actors and musicians of Oudh sang the songs of Inder Sabha." The play included "31 ghazal

Ghazal

The ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...

s, 9 thumri

Thumri

Thumri is a common genre of semi-classical Indian music.The text is romantic or devotional in nature, and usually revolves around a girl's love for Krishna. The lyrics are usually in Uttar Pradesh dialects of Hindi called Poorbi and Brij Bhasha...

s, 4 holis, 15 songs and two chaubola

Chaubola

Chaubola is a quatrain meter in the poetry of North India and Pakistan, often employed in folk songs.-Example:In one sequence in the Urdu opera Inder Sabha, Indra, the king of the gods, enters his court and announces in a chaubola -...

s and five chhand

Chhand (poetry)

A chhand or schand is a quatrain used in the poetic traditions of North India and Pakistan.-Chhands in culture:In the culture of the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, it is customary for chhands to be recited at ceremonial occasions such as weddings, where they are used by grooms to...

s with enough scope for dances as well."

The play is considered a seminal work that directly influenced several important nineteenth and early-twentieth century Urdu plays that followed it, including Khadim Husain Afsos's Bazm-e-Suleman (1862), Bahiron Singh Asmat's Jashn-e-Parastan and Taj Mahal Farrukh's Nigaristan-e-Farrukh (1911).

Commissioning

Although it is widely regarded as the first Urdu stage play ever written, there is dispute on how the play came to be created. While some historians have contended that Agha Hasan Amanat was commissioned by Wajid Ali Shah

Wajid Ali Shah

Wajid Ali Shah was the fifth King of Oudh, holding the position from 13 February 1847 to 7 February 1856....

 to write it, others (such as Abdul Halim Sharar

Abdul Halim Sharar

Abdul Halim Sharar was an essayist and historian of Lucknow. His book "Guzishta Lucknow" is a rich source of information on the genesis of the city and its culture.He wrote famous tales with historical content...

) have disputed this claim and asserted that it was written entirely independently by Amanat.

The film

Released in 1932, Indrasabha was one of the earliest sound film

Sound film

A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...

s made in India, the very next year after Alam Ara

Alam Ara

Alam Ara is a 1931 film directed by Ardeshir Irani. It was the first Indian sound film.Irani recognized the importance that sound would have on the cinema, and raced to complete Alam Ara before several contemporary sound films. Alam Ara debuted at the Majestic Cinema in Mumbai on March 14, 1931...

, which was the first Indian talkie. It featured over seventy songs and was 211 minutes long. The movie was made by Jamshedji Framji Madan

Jamshedji Framji Madan

Jamshedji Framji Madan , born in a Parsi family in Bombay, was one of the pioneers of the Indian film industry.-Early life:Madan's father suffered a huge monetary loss when Bombay Reclamation Bank, which was responsible for reclaiming land between the seven islands of Bombay, failed. JF Madan had...

's company, Madan Theatre. Indrasabha holds the world record for the most number of songs in any musical

Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

ever made.