India, Sept. 1 -- The air inside the CD Deshmukh Auditorium at IIC, New Delhi, was thick with anticipation on Sunday evening. The launch of writer, performer and 'Peepli Live' co-director Mahmood Farooqi's prison memoir, The Tihar Players, was anything but a conventional literary gathering. While the book offers an unsparing account of his incarceration after being charged with and subsequently acquitted of rape, its true beating heart is the story of the drama class he established behind bars.

Following opening remarks by Juggernaut Books founder Chiki Sarkar and Farooqui, the evening moved to a satirical performance by former Tihar inmates, all trained by Farooqui during their time in jail. Their act, titled Tihar Drama Class, transpor...