Naseeruddin Shah To Portray Salman Rushdie
The actor will co-direct 27 Seconds, a stage adaptation drawn entirely from the author's memoir about the 2022 knife attack.
Naseeruddin Shah is set to portray acclaimed author Salman Rushdie in an upcoming stage adaptation titled “27 Seconds”. The production, presented by Motley Productions, is based entirely on Rushdie's 2024 memoir, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, which chronicles the August 12, 2022, assassination attempt on his life in New York State.
The title “27 Seconds” refers to the precise, terrifying duration of the knife attack that left Rushdie permanently blind in his right eye. To respect Rushdie’s text, the script is comprised strictly of words written in the memoir. Every line spoken on stage is taken directly from the book.
The play is co-directed by Naseeruddin Shah and Arghya Lahiri, with dramaturgy by Kaushik Sen and Shah. Actress Malaika Choudhury will star alongside Shah as Rushdie's wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths.
Salman Rushdie has warmly endorsed the project, stating that he has always been an admirer of Naseeruddin Shah's craft.