With his new production, The Trial of Abdus Salam, author and playwright Nilanjan Choudhury continues to explore the subgenre of what he calls “science theatre” — where complex ideas of physics collide with human drama, and scientists emerge as conflicted, charismatic protagonists. His works do not merely explain scientific theory; it stages it. Following The Square Root of a Sonnet, which delved into the life of the Indian-American theoretical physicist Subramaniam Chandrasekhar (who was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize), Nilanjan now turns his attention to another South Asian genius: the Pakistani physicist Abdus Salam.

Salam, considered the first Muslim to win a Nobel Prize in Physics, remains an under-recognised figure despite his monumental contributions to modern science. “Many are not aware of Abdus Salam’s existence,” says Nilanjan. “It’s a shame, because he’s probably among the greatest scientific geniuses to emerge from Asia. His story is both inspiring and heartbreaking.”

The Trial of Abdus Salam is not a biographical drama in the traditional sense. Staged as an imagined courtroom drama, the play sees Salam, in the final hour of his life, facing a prosecutor who takes on the voices of various people from his past: his father, colleagues, lovers, political figures and detractors. Among them are Indira Gandhi, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and even voices from within the conservative Islamic establishment that labelled Salam a heretic. The story unfolds as a dramatic interrogation of the man, his science, and the state that ultimately rejected him.

“In theatre, conflict is everything,” says Nilanjan, “Salam’s life was full of it. He found no contradiction between his faith and his scientific work. But the external world saw things differently. That made him both a visionary and a tragic figure.”

The Trial of Abdus Salam
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Born in pre-Partition India in a small village in Punjab, Salam was raised in a modest household and showed signs of prodigious intellect from an early age. He went on to develop foundational theories in particle physics, particularly the unification of the weak nuclear force and the electromagnetic force — work that led to what is now called the Standard Model of Particle Physics. But his identity as an Ahmadiyya Muslim — a sect considered heretical by mainstream Pakistani Islam — meant that his contributions were erased in his home country. Even the epitaph on his grave in Rabwah, Pakistan, had the word “Muslim” scratched out by state decree.

“He was deeply wounded by the rejection,” says Nilanjan, who has been researching Salam’s life since 2017. “And yet, he never stopped being in love with his country, or his faith. That tension makes him fascinating.”

While his plays do not shy away from heavy scientific material (The Square Root of a Sonnet featured a 30-minute sequence visualising black hole formation), Nilanjan is careful to balance the cerebral with the emotional. “Science is important,” he says, “But it’s the drama and the emotional arcs that give the play life.”

In The Trial of Abdus Salam, the science is denser, delving into topics like symmetry-breaking, particle mass, and the elusive Higgs boson, which Salam’s theories helped predict. The challenge, Choudhury says, lies in presenting these abstract ideas in accessible, theatrical forms. “I want to evoke a sense of wonder without requiring a physics degree. It’s about lighting a spark, not filling a bucket.”

The Trial of Abdus Salam
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The play also resists easy classification — neither pure docudrama nor pure fiction. “I take liberties with imagined conversations and characters,” he says, “But everything is rooted in historical or emotional truth. If Salam is shown as being proud or hurt, I want to ensure it’s backed by documentation or strong inference.”

For Nilanjan, who juggles corporate life with writing and theatre, this genre is not just a creative choice. “Why don’t we write plays about our own scientists?” he asked himself. Scientists from Asia have stories that are just as grand, just as moving, and far less told compared to their Western counterparts. That is what Nilanjan is trying to change.”

After The Trial of Abdus Salam, he  is working on a third science play, centred on India’s first woman physicist, Bibha Chowdhuri, as part of what he envisions as a trilogy on South Asian scientists.

The Trial of Abdus Salam (1 hour 40 minutes, for ages 16 and above) will be staged at Ranga Shankara on April 18. Tickets, ₹350 onwards on BookMyShow.