Mahmood Farooqui | |
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Born | Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India |
Alma mater | The Doon School St. Stephen's College, Delhi St. Peter's College, Oxford |
Occupation(s) | Author and storyteller |
Spouse | Anusha Rizvi |
Mahmood Farooqui is an Indian writer, performer and director. He specializes in a type of story-telling known as Dastangoi.[1][2][3][4][5] Farooqui along with his uncle Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, noted Urdu poet and literary critic, revived Dastangoi, the ancient art of Urdu story telling.[6][7][8][9][10] He was awarded the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in 2010 for it.[11]
His book Besieged: voices from Delhi 1857[12] was awarded the Ramnath Goenka for the best Non-fiction book of the year.[13][14] This book is a translation of mutiny papers providing a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people who found themselves stuck during the revolt of 1857. He was also a researcher for The Last Mughal, a book by William Dalrymple.
In August 2016 he was found guilty of rape by a lower court,[15] but in September 2017 he was acquitted by the Delhi High Court.[16] The High Court judgment was later upheld by the Supreme Court.[17][18]