Our HiStory
How it all started
It was in the fall of 1990 when a few art enthusiasts joined hands and decided to produce a play for the community of San Diego. They realized that it would be a big project requiring some serious commitment on everyone’s part, but they were ready. The aim was to produce a work of excellence in every respect.
It was felt that a musical play would be more appreciated by the community than one without music and dances. Hamid Daudani had a theme for such a play in mind. He developed this concept into a full length play and set the stage for “Prem Nagar Ka Mela”.
The play, as the name indicates, revolved arround a village fair where many events took place. It showed the life of the simple people of Prem Nagar. It was presented to the public in February of 1991. The venue was one of the best auditoriums in town, the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.
Just around the time that the publicity was to be started, it was realized that a name was needed for the group. It was difficult to find a name on such short notice. It also seemed unnecessary to worry about the name because this project was supposed to be a one time event. Since Hamid had initiated the plan, taken the lead and written and directed the play, it was decided to title the event as a presentation of Hamid Daudani & Group.
The success of Prem Nagar was overwhelming. It received wonderful reviews and tremendous praise from the community. Some people even went on to calling it a classic. This naturally prompted our second play followed by the third play, and eventually it became a yearly tradition.
Going forward, the name “Hamid Daudani & Group” created goodwill and recognition from the community and to change it to any other name seemed unnecessary.
Over the years the group has gained great amount of experience which shows in its productions.