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Shama Zaidi (born 25 September 1938 at Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India) is an Indian screenwriter, costume designer, art director, theatre person, art critic, and documentary filmmaker.
Shama Zaidi is the daughter of Col Bashir Hussain Zaidi (an administrator, businessman and politician) and Begum Qudsia Zaidi (a writer, social worker and theatre person, who established Hindustani theatre group in Delhi with Habib Tanvir, which made its debut with the production of an Hindi-Urdu version of Kalidas's Shakuntala and later produced Shudraka's Mrichakatika as Mitti Ki Gadi.
She was educated at Woodstock School, Mussoorie, Uttar Pradesh, India. and at Miranda House, New Delhi, India. She has a B A Hons in English from Delhi University. She specialized in stage design, gaining a Diploma from the Slade School of Art, London, United Kingdom.
She is married to M S Sathyu (Filmmaker/ Designer/ Theatre person/ Art Director).
Journalism
§ Art critic for The Statesman, Patriot and Shankar's Weekly, New Delhi.
§ Written numerous articles on film, theatre and television for Cinema Vision, Cinema in India, etc., and other journals and newspapers.
Theatre
Zaidi became interested in costume design while in school at Woodstock, Mussoorie, which had extensive theatre activities. Also due to the influence of her mother Qudsia Zaidi, who started the Hindustani Theatre in the late 50s with Habib Tanvir and other friends. In her college days at Miranda House she started helping out with the stage productions there, apart from taking active interest in Hindustani Theatre.
After B A Shama went to Slade School of Art, London, for a one year course in stage design and costume design. Then worked in Germany at the Frankfurt Municipal Theatre as an apprentice and for some time as an observer in the Berliner Ensemble. (Apprentice in stage, film and TV design to Herr Hein Heckroth, Frankfurt am Main, West Germany. Herr Heckroth was the designer of Red Shoes Hoffman’s Tales, etc.)
Returned to Delhi in 1961 and designed costumes for Hindustani Theatre before shifting to Bombay in 1965 where she worked as Writer, Designer, Performer and Director for Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), Mumbai. Since 1980 she has designed more for films and television than theatre.
Worked as Writer, Director, Costume Designer, Art Director or Artiste for the following stage productions -
Stage Productions
§ CHOU-EN-LAI, a historical costume pageant for at Lodi Gardens, New Delhi
Hindustani Theatre
§ Shakuntala (1958) - Costume Design
§ Mitti ki Gaadi (1958)- Costume Design & Artiste
§ Khalid Ki Khala (1958)- Costume Design & Artiste
§ Mudrarakshas (1962) - Direction & Costume Design
§ Sufaid Kundali (1963) - Costume Design & Artiste
§ Mera Naam Trufaldeen (1964)- Adaptation & Costume Design
Indian People's Theatre Association, Mumbai
§ BHAGAT SINGH (1969) Co director & Costume Design;
§ AAKHRI SHAMA (1969) Costume Design;
§ AZAR KA KHWAB (1970) Costume Design & Artiste;
§ GUDIYA GHAR (1972) Costume Design & Artiste;
§ BHOOKE BHAJAN NA HOYE GOPALA (1973) Artiste;
§ KHALID KI KHALA (1974) Costume Design & Artiste;
§ SAMBHOG SE SANYAS TAK (1975) Costume Design;
§ DEVYANI KA KEHNA HAI (1975) Direction & Costume Design;
§ MITTI KI GAADI (1975) Costume Design;
§ MAHANIRVAAN (1976) Direction & Costume Design;
§ EK CHADAR MAILI SI (1966) Direction & Costume Design;
§ GHODA (1991) Costume Design;
§ SHRIMAN BALE UIRE (1992) Adaptation;
Associated with the IPTA's Inter collegiate Drama Competition since 1972 as a jury member.
§ Translated / adapted over a dozen plays into Hindustani from various languages.
Cinema
Written scripts/dialogues for documentaries and feature films with Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal, M. S. Sathyu and others. Also done Costume Design and Art Direction.
Source : Wikipedia
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