Entertainment · Books & Arts · 4 hrs ago
Naseeruddin Shah’s play based on Rushdie’s memoir opens in Mumbai
Naseeruddin Shah’s play 27 Seconds is adapted from Salman Rushdie’s memoir Knife about surviving a stabbing attack.
Rushdie was stabbed at New York’s Chautauqua Institution in August 2022 and permanently lost sight in his right eye.
The play will open Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre Festival on November 2 and 3, with performances scheduled on both days.
Its title refers to the approximate length of the attack, during which Rushdie was stabbed around 15 times.
Shah says the production is a plea for freedom of artistic expression, not an argument about Rushdie’s approach to religion.
The 100-minute play does not try to recreate the attack, and the character Shah plays is called simply “the writer.”
Naseeruddin Shah’s play 27 Seconds, based on Salman Rushdie’s memoir Knife, is scheduled to open the Prithvi Theatre Festival in Mumbai.
Performances are scheduled for November 2 and 3.
The play was adapted by Shah and Kolkata-based Koushik Sen from Rushdie’s account of the 2022 stabbing attack.
Shah says the production makes a plea for freedom of artistic expression.
The 100-minute play does not attempt to re-create the attack.
- Who
- Actor-director Naseeruddin Shah leads the production, adapted with Koushik Sen.
- What
- 27 Seconds is a play based on Salman Rushdie’s memoir Knife.
- When
- Performances are scheduled for November 2 and 3. The article was published on October 28, 2026.
- Where
- The play will open the Prithvi Theatre Festival in Mumbai.
- Why
- Shah says the memoir’s plea for artistic freedom inspired the adaptation.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Shah considered adapting Knife as a play after Koushik Sen suggested the idea.
Sen and Shah worked on the stage adaptation.
Shah further worked on the text.
Performances of 27 Seconds are scheduled at the Prithvi Theatre Festival in Mumbai.
- Play
- 27 Seconds
- Source memoir
- Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder
- Festival
- Prithvi Theatre Festival, Mumbai
- Scheduled performances
- November 2 and 3
- Running time
- 100 minutes
What people are saying
Art is not a luxury. It stands at the essence of our humanity and it asks for no special protection except the right to exist. Without art, our ability to think, to see freshly, and to renew our world would wither and die
Knife is not a justification of Rushdie’s approach to religion. We are not getting into that territory at all. It carries an important message, not just for our country but for the whole world. It’s a plea for freedom of artistic expression. I thought it was dramatic enough to hold an audience’s interest
The book is full of ideas about art, censorship and the place of art in our lives.