About
Danish Husain is an actor, poet, storyteller and theatre director. He trained under Barry John and worked with directors including Habib Tanvir, M.S. Sathyu, M.K. Raina and Naseeruddin Shah. He joined Mahmood Farooqui from around 2005 to help revive dastangoi, then extended the practice with his own multilingual storytelling project Qissebaazi and the poetry-performance project Poetrification.
Husain founded The Hoshruba Repertory in Mumbai, through which he directs and performs literary and contemporary theatre, from Rajiv Joseph's Guards At The Taj to Habibnama, his 2024 play on Habib Tanvir. Alongside the stage he has a substantial film and web body of work, including Peepli Live, Dhobi Ghat, Newton, Soorma and Bombay Begums.
The artistry
Husain works across dastangoi, storytelling and theatre. He performs classical dastans, has built the multilingual Qissebaazi and the poetry-led Poetrification, and directs and acts in stage productions under The Hoshruba Repertory. His register moves easily between Urdu, Hindi and English.
Husain is the dastango who is also a full theatre-maker. Where a solo performer brings a set, he can bring a production. For a programmer, he offers range: a classical dastan, a bilingual Qissebaazi evening, a poetry-in-performance set, or a staged play. [Atlas Assessment]
A co-reviver of dastangoi who turned it into an ongoing multilingual repertory practice, bridging traditional storytelling and modern theatre.