Wikipedia

Syed Sahil Agha

Syed Sahil Agha (born 1982) is an Indian storyteller, actor, writer and vintage car collector, who is specialised in the verbal art of Dastangoi, a 13th-century art of oral storytelling in Urdu language. He discovered the old form of QissaKhwani and revived it by naming it QissaGoi and also reintroduced Jumlebaazi, a 13th-century wit and Wordplay oral storytelling art form .[1][2] He is known for his role as Shibli Nomani in the Sir Syed Ahmed Khan: The Messiah, a web-series released on Apple TV.[3][4][5][6]

Syed Sahil Agha
Born1982 (age 43–44)
Delhi
CitizenshipIndian
EducationNational School of Drama
Bachelor of Arts (Jamia Millia Islamia)
Diploma in Acting (Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts)
Years active2010-present
Known forDastangoi

Early life and education

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Syed Sahil Agha was born in 1982 in Delhi to Sayyed Mansoor Agha, a writer and senior journalist.[7][8] He belongs to the Delhi Gharana originated from Amir Khusrau's Silsila of Sufism.[9][10]

He learnt and did his training at National School of Drama and he completed his Bachelor of Arts from Jamia Millia Islamia and then started to perform as a Dastango in events.[7][11] Later, he did Post Graduate Diploma in Acting from Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts, Delhi.[12]

Career

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Agha gave his first professional Dastangoi performance in 2010 at Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, when he was pursuing Bachelor of Arts there.[13][14] He claims his grandfather was the inspiration for his work.[11][15][16]

He has also come up with a new idea of 'Musical Dastangoi' which has an amalgamated storytelling with Indian Opera and Indian classical music.[17]

Agha is the writer of Dastan-e-Hind (2010), a collection of his dastans and Indian folklore, has inspired performances by many artists around the globe.[18][13] He perform solo rather than as part of a pair. His dastans include Nairang-e DastanGoi, Dastan-e-Awadh, Dastan-e-Dard, Dastan-e-Taqseem,[19] Dastan-e-Dastangoi,, Dastan Mehboob-e-Ilahi, Dastan-e-Amir Khusrau,[20] Dastan-e-Shoaib Akhtar,[21][22] Jashn-e-Javed Akhtar,[23] Dastan-e-Chiragh, Dastan-e-Mahatma,[24][25] Dastan-e-Vikram-Betal and Tughlaqnama, Dastan Dilli Ke Shayron ki[26] which have become a hit amongst his audiences.[27][28] His musical storytelling includes Dastan-e-Duvidha, Jashn-e-Virasat, Dilli Durbar,[29][30] Dastan Ishq-e-Meera, Dastan-e-Sahir and many others.[29][30][31][32][33]

He has been a part of Bharatmuni Rang Utsav, Gaatha: Mumbai International Story Telling Festival, Udaipur Tales International Storytelling Festival, Jahan-e-Khusrau, Shimla International Literature Festival, Sahityotsav Cultural Karvan, Jashn-e-Rekhta and Adbi Forum.[9][1][34][35][36][37][38]

Vintage car collection

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Agha, has been engaged in collecting vintage cars for 25 years.[39][40] He has mainly collected models of British and German cars.[41][12]

Filmography

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Television

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Year Show Role Channel Ref
2018 Mirza Ghalib Umrao Begum Writer DD Urdu [1]
2019 Dastangoi Writer and Performer Zee Salaam [9]

Filmography

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Year Film Role Channel Ref
2019 Pari Khana Writer Sood Films [9]
2020 Sanam Khana Writer Netflix [9]

Awards and honours

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In 2022, National Museum, New Delhi honoured Agha with The Grace of Dastangoi and also displayed his costume Angrakha at the Chitram Vastram.[42][43][44]

  • Pradesh Jouhar Award 2017
  • Hafeez Merathi Award 2017 [45]
  • Delhi Minorities Commission Award 2019 [46][47][48]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 "Syed Sahil Agha". Shimla International Literature Festival. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
  2. ↑ Jaipur, Rajesh Asnani (13 January 2025). "Udaipur storytelling festival: A celebration of oral tradition". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  3. ↑ "Special screening of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: The Messiah held at AMU | December 19, 2024". Aligarh Muslim University. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
  4. ↑ Maniar, Prakruti (30 November 2019). "On the art of storytelling: Dastango Syed Sahil Agha". purplepencilproject.com. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  5. ↑ Sahana lyer (29 February 2020). "Udaipur Tales Brings Alive the Art of Storytelling". outlooktraveller. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  6. ↑ Raza, Danish (7 December 2018). "The long and Short of Storytelling in India". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  7. 1 2 Habib, Waquar (26 February 2024). "Dastangoi Artist Syed Sahil Agha On Mastering A Fading Art". Outlook Traveller. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
  8. ↑ Phukan, Vikram (21 November 2019). "Diamonds in the rough". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Syed Sahil Agha: Featured Teller at Gaatha Festival". gmisf.org. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  10. ↑ Hasan, Shah Imran. "ماضی اورمستقبل کا پل ہے داستان گوئی ۔ سید ساحل آغا". urdu.awazthevoice.in (in Urdu). Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  11. 1 2 Saha, Pracheta (21 November 2018). "Dastaan-E-Dastangoi: The Lost Art Form Of Story Telling". outlookindia.com. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  12. 1 2 "Meet Sahil Agha who owns over 50 vintage cars". ummid.com. ummid. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  13. 1 2 Sharma, Purnima (9 September 2017). "Medieval Art, New Interest". Deccan Herald.
  14. ↑ Vibor (1 November 2017). "noida literature festival highlight 2017". noidaliteraturefestival.com. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  15. ↑ "Storytelling from a cross-cultural perspective". norway.no. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  16. ↑ "An enthralling collage of plays". Sohaila Kapur. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  17. ↑ Eba, Syeda (8 February 2020). "Dastangoi: Bringing stories alive". Millennium Post. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  18. ↑ "DastanGoi, Dastan-e-Amir kusrow". karmpatr.com. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  19. ↑ "Bazm-e-Urdu Dubai, Presidents 'Nairang-e DastanGoi'". web desk. thefinancialdaily.com.
  20. ↑ Ahmed, Tufail (13 May 2024). "Dastangoi: Timeless tales of Urdu luminary Amir Khusro". Pravasisamwad.com. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  21. ↑ "Pakistan's bowling Great Shoaib Akhtar to Grace Sharjah International Book Fair 2022". Daily Pakistan. webdesk. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  22. ↑ Mazhar Farooqui. "SIBF 2022: Shoaib Akhtar to attend show depicting his life story". klyoum.com. khaleej Times. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  23. ↑ Nilanjana G. Javed. "Indian poet Javed Akhtar's story mesmerises audiences in Dubai". Gulf News. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  24. ↑ Jeelani, Gulam (31 October 2018). "A glimpse of Mahatma Gandhi's life through the art of Dastangoi". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  25. ↑ Diwan Singh Bajeli. "The making of Mahatma". The Hindu. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  26. ↑ Rana Siddiqui Zaman (15 March 2019). "Dilli Durbar 2019: A modern attempt at celebrating classical music and more". nationalheraldindia.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  27. ↑ Gulf News Report. "Meet Pakistani cricket legend Shoaib Akhtar at Sharjah International book fair". Gulf News. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  28. ↑ Dipanita Nath. "One Hundred Per Cent". The Indian Express. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  29. 1 2 "Dilli Durbar Introducing youngsters to classical Indian music". Team MP. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  30. 1 2 "Introducing youngsters to classical Indian music". Team MP. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  31. ↑ "Tales of Urdu Heritage and Hindu Muslim unity". Karmpatr. 1 November 2018.
  32. ↑ Reem Khokhar (5 December 2018). "Curtains down at Udaipur's international storytelling festival". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  33. ↑ Danish Raza (1 November 2018). "The long and short of storytelling in India". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  34. ↑ Bharat, E. T. V. (22 November 2024). "Udaipur Storytelling Festival Returns With Its 6th Edition; Check Details". ETV Bharat News. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  35. ↑ PTI (17 December 2023). "Storytelling festival 'Udaipur Tales' set to make grand return on January 12". ThePrint. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  36. ↑ "Adbi Forum celebrates Legacy of 'Dastangoi' storytelling art - The Financial Daily". 29 May 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  37. ↑ "Sahtyotsav Cultural Karvan Ignites Dehradun with Melodies and Tales | Entertainment". Devdiscourse. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  38. ↑ "Bharatmuni Rang Utsav 2024: A solo and duet drama festival". The Patriot. 20 December 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
  39. ↑ TOI (6 April 2022). "Delhi's vintage car lover who restores iconic beauties, watch!". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  40. ↑ Muttabi Ali Khan. "This Delhi man owns over 50 vintage cars". munsifdaily.com. munsifdaily. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  41. ↑ TOI (7 April 2022). "Delhi's vintage car lover who restores iconic beauties, watch!". the economic times (Panache). Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  42. ↑ "How India dressed up: National Museum recreates saga from old manuscripts". Business Standard. India. Indo-Asian News Service. 17 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  43. ↑ "वस्त्रों और परिधानों की कहानी, पांडुलिपि चित्रों की जुबानी". newstodaynetwork.com.
  44. ↑ dailychhattisgarh news desk (17 December 2022). "वस्त्रों और परिधानों की कहानी, पांडुलिपि चित्रों की जुबानी". Indo-Asian News Service. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  45. ↑ "Storytellers Of 2020". Udaipur Tales. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  46. ↑ viewswall. "Sahil Agha, a distinguished Dastango, honored by DMC". viewswall.com. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  47. ↑ "Delhi Minorities Commission announces Awards in various fields". theindianawaaz.com. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  48. ↑ "DMC 2019 AWARDS". Delhi Minorities Commission. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
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