The second edition of Jashn-e- Rekhta festival today began with lyricist-poet Javed Akhtar and veteran actress Shabana Azmi performing the much-acclaimed play 'Kaifi Aur Main'.
Akhtar along with Azmi brought alive the magnificent love story of Kaifi and his wife Shaukat.
The three-day festival will showcase Urdu and its richness through various forms like mushaira, qawwali, dastangoi, ghazals, film screening, dance and plays.
The festival will celebrate Urdu's inimitable beauty, its soul-stirring cadence and lyrical splendor was inaugurated by Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung.
"The rhythm and beauty of Urdu is such that even those, who don't understand the language also fall on love with it. This is the reason we are today seeing the renaissance of the language and I hope this renaissance will increase with each passing day and Urdu will get the stature it deserves.
"I hope the next few days of this festival will bring in the essence of the old days. And not only Delhi, but places like Hyderabad, Bhopal, Rampur and Lucknow will also light up with it," Jung said on the occasion.
The three-day-long celebration of Urdu will bring some of the Urdu's finest poets, authors and artists through live performances, panel discussions and interactive sessions.
"With this festival, we are trying to build a platform where Urdu can be written, heard and felt in its purest form," Sanjiv Saraf, founder of Rekhta foundation said.
Distinguished names from across the border like noted, director Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, popular TV host Anwar Maqsood, Ustad Rafaqat Ali Khan, Iftikhar Arif, Zehra Nigah and Imran Abbas are attending the event.
Eminent poet-lyricist Gulzar and Pakistan's Ambassador to India Abdul Basit were also present at the opening of the festival.
Bollywood personalities like Mahesh Bhatt, Imtiaz Ali, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Huma Qureshi and Nandita Das will also be attending the event.
A special highlight of the festival will be the birth centenary celebration of legendary Urdu writers Ismat Chugtai and Rajinder Singh Bedi, known as the pillars of Urdu fiction. Intizar Hussain and Nida Fazli, who passed away recently, were also supposed to be part of the festival.
