Hafeez Khan is a director, cultural activist and lifelong custodian of folk theatre traditions, with over four decades of work dedicated to performance and preservation. A graduate of the National School of Drama and a founder member of its Theatre-in-Education Company, he has directed more than 150 productions and conducted hundreds of workshops across India. Beyond experimental and social theatre, his greatest contribution has been to Malwa Maach, one of Madhya Pradesh’s oldest folk forms. Through festivals, training and national presentations, he has given a platform to the few surviving Maach artists, ensuring the form’s relevance while taking it from village squares to prestigious stages across the country.

In Abhivyakti, Hafeez presents Teekaram: The Last Folk Star!, a research-driven play that spans a century of change in Maach through the story of Teekaram, one of its last torchbearers. It portrays the extremes of an artist’s life as he watches his tradition edge towards extinction, torn between resilience and despair. For Hafeez, the project is deeply personal. With only a handful of Maach performers left, most of them elderly, he hopes the play not only honours their legacy but also inspires audiences to keep such folk traditions alive by adapting them to today’s cultural language.