The , abbreviated as '''PAF''', is the annual inter-hostel dramatics competition in the Indian Institute Of Technology Bombay located at Powai in Mumbai ( India ). It is undertaken with great enthusiasm by both Undergraduate and Graduate students of IIT Bombay. Typically two or three hostels (out of 14) tie up by random draw for each PAF. Though technically a drama, each PAF is a combination of all cultural arts, be it dramatics, literature, music, fine arts, debating , dance etc. All PAFs are held in the ''Open Air Theater'' (OAT) within the main campus of IIT Bombay, inside the Students' Activity Center (SAC). A peculiarity about PAF is that all the dialogues are delivered as Voice Overs and not by the actors (although this is done occasionally by the actors themselves), mainly owing to the structure and the huge size of the OAT. This requires a great co-ordination between the actors and the voices.
The major work is the preparation of the sets, commonly known as ''prod'', abbr. for productions, among fellow students. ''Prod'' consists of making huge sets using bamboo and jute ropes and screens made out of newspapers stuck together. Structures strong enough to hold the weight of more than 2 to 3 people have been prepared over and over again to just give the dramatists a chance to perform on an elevated level.
PAFs could be in Hindi or English. Serious themes are chosen for the story, from history, autobiographies, etc but the scripts are expected to be original.
''It is requested that this section be expanded to incorporate the PAFs of the yesteryears''.
The PAF season usually lies during the last week of March and the first week of April each year, officially culminating all the extracurricular activities of IIT Bombay for that year. Some recent PAFs are:
- Year 2006 (all in Hindi)
- --- (, lit., the secret), by hostels 2, 8 and 7 on 19th March.
- --- (, lit, the scratches), by hostels 13, 6, 10 and Tansa House on 22nd March.
- ---, by hostels 3, 5 and 12 on 25th March — the first PAF ever to use the F-word and '' Org---sm ''.
- --- (French, lit., already seen), by hostels 1, 4, 9 and 11 on 28th March — the winning PAF.
- Year 2005 (all in Hindi)
- --- (, lit., the red line—an illusion), by hostels 2, 7 and 11 on 20th March.
- --- (, lit., I am the truth), by hostels 9, 13 and Tansa House on 23rd March.
- --- (), by hostels 1, 5 and 10 on 27th March— first runnerup and Best Prod winner.
- --- (, lit., musk), by hostels 4, 8 and 12 on 30th March.
- --- (, lit., knocking), by hostels 3 and 6 on 2nd April— the winning PAF.
- Year 2004
- ---, by hostels 3, 9 and 12 on 29th March. (in English)
- --- (, lit., sparrow), by hostels 6, 8 and 11 on 1st April. (in Urdu-rich Hindi)
- --- (, lit., the fire-sacrifice), by hostels 7, 10 and Tansa House on 26th March. (in Hindi)
- --- (, lit., invoking), by hostels 2 and 5 on 23rd March. (in Hindi)
- --- (, lit., the house made up of shellac), by hostels 4 and 13 on 4th April. (in Hindi)—the winning PAF.
- Year 2003
- --- (French, lit., the painter of death), by hostels 2 and 3 on 22nd March. (in English)
- --- (, lit., the peaceful deer), by hostels 5 and 6 on 7th April (in Hindi)—the winning PAF.
- ---, by hostels 4 and 11 on 25th March. (in English)
- --- (Italian, lit., the homicide), by hostels 9, 10 and Tansa on 28th March. (in English)
- --- (, lit., the end), by hostels 7 and 8 on 10th April. (in Hindi)
- Year 2002
- --- (, lit., Residue), by hostels 8 & 9 (In Hindi) - the winning PAF.
- --- (Spanish, lit., the island of music, the island of love), by hostels 2, 10 and Tansa on 4th April (In English) - first runnersup.
- --- (, lit., I am Brahman), by hostels 4 & 5. (in Hindi)
- --- (, lit. the sacrifice), by hostels 1, 3 and 11 on 21st March. (in Hindi)
- --- (''a Biblical reference''), by hostels 6 & 7. (in English)
- Year 2001
- ---, by hostels 2 and 7 (In English) — the winning PAF.
- --- (), by hostels 4 and 9. (In Hindi)
- --- (), by hostels 8 and 10. (In Hindi)
- --- (, popular for ''maa reva'', the river Narmada ) by hostels 3 ''only''. (In Hindi)
- --- (, lit., the Bowstring), by hostels 5 & 11. (In Hindi)
- Year 2000
- --- () by hostels 2 and 9. (In Hindi)
- --- (, Urdu / Arabic: lit., The Story), by hostels 5 and 8 (In Hindi) — the winning PAF.
- --- (, lit., border), by hostels 3 and 4. (In Hindi)
- Year 1999
- --- (), by hostels 4 and 7. (In Hindi)
Most of the students of IIT Bombay consider PAF as the single most important extra-curricular activity in this institute. The prize given for the best PAF and various best performances are highly coveted by all. On the dark side of it, there have been time and again accusation against PAF about the freshmen being forced to work for the prod work against their will. But they have always been disregarded by those who work for it to the extent of saying that, "Somehow, most freshies seem to enjoy the concept of forced labour, cruel torture, slavery and a little free food thoroughly." Another acusation made by some of the IIT-Bombay professors against PAF is that many students get so much involved in PAF that they bunk the normal classes during the PAF season.
- "PAF's bring out enthusiasm among students, never seen at any other time of the curriculum year and thats why its worth so much and so close to an IITians heart". -Aditya Dosi
- ''You work for 4 days , and the last two days all day and night..where else could one find so much interest, commitment and enthusiasm''---
- “Despite the fact that the freshmen are almost forced like slaves to work in their PAF, and that PAF often takes up the greater share of enthusiasm for many students of IIT-B than the studies, these PAFs, when they are executed in their final form, appear no less a wonder to the toilers and the rest of the ''junta'' than the Taj Mahal itself. It is a joy beyond expression—one that forms a foremost part of a precious memory.”—Saumya Ranjan, Chemical Engineering (JEE-2002 batch).
- 'Deja Vu' (2006) focussed on the life of IITians and dealt with issues like IIT-JEE, academic competition in IIT, friendship, isolation, certain suicidal tendencies, dilemma of those who never wanted to pursue core engineering, etc. The issues were delicate and the time was ripe to bring out issues at such a platform where whole IIT community gathers to ponder upon the system of which each person is a part. Through the buzzing campus sets and realistic dialogues and acting, it was able to strike the right string where each and every audience be it student or professor could relate themselves to the story and realize the fact that it has all happened to them at some point of time and it is time to bring out a constructive change in a system which the whole nation is proud of. Deja Vu received a standing ovation during and after the performance which justifies it being real. This PAF created history by winning 7 out of the 9 awarded trophies besides the overall trophy.Deja Vu's Success could be attributed to the huge team effort that went in all departments; be it scripting, direction, production or music.
- ''Dastak'' (2005) was the first PAF to introduce the concept of Street Plays into PAF—as a sub-drama inside a drama.
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