An epic revivified

‘Laila-Majnu’, written by Imtiaz and Sajid Ali, captures the theme of the Persian poem ‘Layla and Majnun’.

When romantic love exceeds man-made boundaries and its forbiddenness, why is it labelled an “epic”—a story that becomes the tale of the period? Is it because it dismantles the “must dos” and surrenders to the “could be”? Or is it simply because it exerts the power of love over the set ideas of what a “sane relationship” looks like? The answer to these questions can be sought through the contemporary retelling of one of such epics, ‘Laila Majnu’.