Spoken Fest 2025: Faisal Malik Leaves An Indelible Mark With His Powerful Delivery Of Ashok Chakradhar’s Satirical Piece On Corruption

Kommune’s most sought-after spoken word festival, Spoken Fest, had a resounding success during its seventh edition. It hosted thousands of music and literature enthusiasts for a two-day extravaganza of thought-provoking spoken pieces, poetry, and soul-stirring music. Amongst all the performances, Panchayat fame Faisal Malik’s satirical piece was one of the major highlights of a long, winding day of all things music, literature, and words.

Commanding the stage with impeccable delivery and razor-sharp humour, Faisal Malik recited the noted Hindi satirist and poet Ashok Chakradhar’s poem ‘Rashtriya Brashtachar Mahostav.’ The politically charged, satirical paints a dark and humorous picture of the parasitic nature of corruption, decaying the basis of a democratic country.

The poem talks about a fictional conference of the most corrupt department. The conference has a panel of jury members composed of sacked officials. The invites are sent to the participants with a rule book, stating all the metrics to be qualified as the contender for the most fraudulent office.
With many offices participating in the competition, there is one final boss, the epitome of corruption—the political leader.

It is a commentary on the state of affairs of major departments of government and how a gala of these corrupt officials unearths the rotting mechanism.
Faisal Malik’s delivery and nuanced storytelling turned the poetry recitation into an immersive experience. He took the audience through the gamut of emotions, eliciting laughter, gasps, and silences. It was a striking ode to the powerful words penned by Ashok Chakradhar. The poem has many moments of subtextual expression, shifting from irony to scathing critique.

It also adds humour and wit that is simple yet effective, courtesy of the rich influences of Mr. Ashok and Faisal’s impeccable diction. The departments’ desperate pitches to win the most decorated competition reveal their corrupt practices, a commentary on the degeneration of these sub-branches. Mr. Ashok has also added some sentences in Sanskritised Hindi, which provides another layer of a mythological touch to the piece.
Beyond the intricate piece of poetry, Faisal’s performance testified to the power of the medium to challenge the status quo through dissent and dialogue. It underscored the poetry’s ability to seep deep into the cultural fabric of the society, sparking conversations and leaving an indelible mark.

The energy was palpable at the seventh edition of Spoken Fest. Since the past six editions, the Mumbai fans have deeply resonated with the ethos of the festival. It has created a community, a haven for the city folks to immerse themselves in the spoken word craft presented by a curated set of artists. always ensured a platform of diverse voices. The stories have always echoed the lives of the people in the maximum city, bringing everyone under the same sky and immersing them in stories and music.