A candid conversation with Zakir Khan

This episode brings together the unforgettable magic of Rahat Indori at the Grand Mushaira of Jashn e Rekhta.

This special video brings together some of his best shayari, powerful stage presence, sharp wit, and the unmistakable energy that made him one of the most loved voices in Urdu poetry.

From timeless verses to crowd stirring moments, this is a rare chance to relive Rahat Indori live in a grand literary gathering.

Mushaira at Jashn e Rekhta 2025

Mushaira at Jashn e Rekhta 2025

Mushaira at Jashn-e-Rekhta 2025

Urdu sits inside a lot of Indian music, even when the song is billed as Hindi. In this Sunday Special session, lyricists Swanand Kirkire and Varun Grover speak with Naghma Sahar about how Urdu gives songs their emotional vocabulary. They discuss writing choices, rhythm, meaning, and why certain words carry weight that is hard to replace. The conversation moves between craft and culture. What makes a line feel honest? How storytelling changes when the language changes. And why the Bollywood golden era still shapes how we hear love, grief, and longing today.

Waseem Barelvi performs his latest poetry at the Jashn-e-Rekhta 2025 mushaira. The session opens with a tribute to the Rekhta Foundation and its work to preserve Urdu culture.This set brings together sher that feel immediate and lived in. He speaks on identity, social contrasts, and the reality of city life. He also turns to human relationships and the importance of self-respect. The performance includes his famous lines on unity and on the struggle to stay true to yourself in a changing world.He closes with a moving ghazal about his own life journey and humility. Watch the full performance for a complete experience of contemporary Urdu shayari.

In this Sunday Special at Jashn-e-Rekhta, Javed Akhtar im conversation with Anisur Rahman, speaks on how ideas of nation, belonging, and identity have been shaped in Urdu poetry over time. He traces how poets responded to their political moment, how the language of patriotism evolved, and how nationalism in verse can carry both pride and critique. The conversation moves between literature and history, looking at what poets chose to celebrate, what they resisted, and how poetry became a way to think publicly without losing emotional depth. A session that places Urdu poetry within the larger story of the subcontinent’s social and political imagination.