Mumbai, October 29, 2026: Salman Rushdie’s defence of artistic freedom forms the emotional centre of 27 Seconds, a new stage production starring veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah as the Booker Prize-winning author.
The play is based on Rushdie’s memoir Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, which recounts the brutal 2022 stabbing that nearly killed him and left him blind in one eye.
Naseeruddin Shah Plays Salman Rushdie
Shah takes on the role of Rushdie in the theatrical adaptation.
The veteran actor is also closely involved with the production through his theatre company, Motley Productions.
Title Refers to 27-Second Attack
The title 27 Seconds refers to the brief but devastating duration of the attack on Rushdie at the Chautauqua Institution in New York in August 2022.
The assault caused severe injuries and permanently damaged his right eye.
Play Draws Directly From Knife
The production is based on Rushdie’s memoir Knife, published in 2024.
Reports say the script relies closely on Rushdie’s own written account of the attack, his recovery and his reflections on violence, survival and creativity.
Artistic Freedom Becomes Central Theme
The closing section places particular emphasis on the importance of artistic freedom.
Rushdie’s argument, delivered through Shah, presents art as essential to how societies think, question assumptions and imagine new possibilities.
Story Also Explores Recovery and Love
The play is not focused only on the stabbing.
It also examines Rushdie’s recovery and his relationship with poet and writer Rachel Eliza Griffiths, who supported him during the period after the attack.
Opens at Prithvi Theatre Festival
27 Seconds will open the Prithvi Theatre Festival in Mumbai on November 2.
The production is then expected to travel to Delhi, Chandigarh and Bengaluru.
Rushdie Welcomes Shah’s Casting
Rushdie has publicly expressed enthusiasm about Naseeruddin Shah taking on the role.
He said he had admired Shah’s work for a long time and was pleased that the actor had joined the project.
Play Connects Violence With Freedom of Expression
The production arrives at a time when debates around censorship, political expression and the safety of artists remain prominent globally.
By returning to Rushdie’s own experience, 27 Seconds turns a personal survival story into a broader argument about the freedom to write, perform and create.
A Major Theatre Event
With Shah portraying one of the world’s most recognised literary figures, 27 Seconds is likely to become one of the most closely watched Indian theatre productions of the season.
Its central message goes beyond Rushdie’s attack: it argues that creative freedom remains fundamental to an open society.
Source: The Indian Express, Hindustan Times
Supreme News Network
