About
Syed Sahil Agha is an Indian storyteller, actor and writer specialising in dastangoi, the classical Urdu art of oral storytelling. Trained at the National School of Drama, he is among the few exponents of the Hindustani style of the form, and has innovated it with Musical Dastangoi and by reviving allied arts he calls QissaGoi and Jumlebaazi.
Born in 1982 in Delhi to a family of writers and inspired by his grandfather's storytelling, Syed Sahil Agha trained at the National School of Drama, completed a degree at Jamia Millia Islamia and a diploma at the Shri Ram Centre, and gave his first professional dastangoi performance in 2010. He wrote Dastan-e-Hind, a collection of dastans and Indian folklore, introduced Musical Dastangoi in 2010, and has performed the form widely as one of its distinctive contemporary voices.
The artistry
Agha's voice is his central instrument, orally recreating dastans with the immersive craft of the Hindustani style, which he considers more challenging than the memorised Persian form. His innovation of Musical Dastangoi amalgamates storytelling with Indian classical music and opera, and his repertoire ranges across Indian folklore, partition tales and original work.
[Atlas Perspective] Syed Sahil Agha is a distinctive, well-trained dastango and an innovator of the form. For Urdu literary festivals and heritage programmes, he is a strong choice.
Syed Sahil Agha helps sustain and innovate dastangoi, one of India's classical oral-storytelling traditions, championing the challenging Hindustani style and expanding the form through Musical Dastangoi.