Delhi, a natak hub

“Delhi will soon be synonymous with theatre, just like Jaipur is with literature” – this is the vision of Alchemist Live, the company organising Delhi Theatre Festival for the second year in a row.

The festival, scheduled for March 9-11, has a line-up of eminent theatre artists from the country, showcasing five productions in Siri Fort auditorium and Orana Conventions in Gurugram.

Prabhu Tony, COO of Alchemist, said that just as people from different corners of the country throng the Litfest, they wanted to create such a vibe for the Capital in theatre.

Delhi has always staked claim to being a hub for drama, with its Kamani or FICCI auditorium, Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, and countless other auditoriums and halls in the Mandi House area which have been the centrestage for the arts. And even the great actors it has churned out: from Naseeruddin Shah to Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Seema Biswas and Kangana Ranaut.

However, Mandi House has also become the haunt of elite circles. Jaya Iyer, a performing artist who works with different groups on process oriented and community theatre, believes this exclusivity is where the problem lies. “There are so many Delhis within Delhi. Think of Janakpuri, Chanakyapuri or Bawana. Are we expecting those people to travel to IHC (India Habitat Centre) or Mandi House?”

Iyer believes in the promotion of community theatre which “in the art scene and theatre scene, in most parts of the world, people are talking about creating”. She talks about different localities in Delhi that are very receptive to plays and different street performances, and it’s not just the older generation but especially the young.

One generally imagines theatre-goers as silver-haired elite patrons. But a large number of college students and young professionals love the medium, which can be a source of not just entertainment but also of empowering a social and political cause.

A good example of this is the Asmita theatre group, founded and run by the famed director Arvind Gaur. There are about 300 students in his group currently, who train and are given a platform to perform, be it in an indoors venue or out on the street, finding avenues for self-expression.

His group has been able to survive and become bigger, Gaur says, due to good quality work which provokes you into discussions. “Word of mouth has helped us. Many people come to see our natak. We don’t have marketing either.”

“Our 25 plays for the anniversary special are all different. And in different venues. National School of Drama is currently having a festival – the 8^th Theatre Olympics – but people are not interested. If you don’t reach the people, then how would they know?”

On its part, National School of Drama (NSD) has dubbed its Theatre Olympics as the ‘the greatest carnival of thespianism with the theme ‘Flag of Friendship’. Contrary to Gaur’s dismissive words, the NSD campus is thronged with enthusiastic theatre lovers who are seen queuing up to witness plays, dance drama and street plays. There’s something for everyone.

In between the plays, theatre lovers, students and faculty of NSD enjoy refreshments at the makeshift canteen. They mingle here over a cup of coffee or tea and discuss threadbare each of the plays they have witnessed.

A 24-year-old second-year student with unruly hair, loose attire on his skinny frame, intense eyes (and doesn’t want to be named) is in a hurry to watch the next play.  “I want to be an actor,” he says, “an actor with a message.” He is specialising in acting at NSD; the other two specialisations at NSD are direction and design.

He wants to be an actor, like most of his contemporaries, wants to graduate to films after spending a few formative years doing theatre. “Theatre doesn’t give you enough money,” he says and adds, “I want to do what people love.”

Clearly, the ideological baggage carried by theatre artistes is no more cumbersome. Pragmatism has replaced misplaced idealism, perhaps a demand of the times. He feels that the theatre scene in Delhi is only heating up, whereas people in “Kolkata are crazy about theatre”.

There are 78 students in NSD-Delhi for the three-year post-graduation course. Thousands of people compete every year for 26 seats, their numbers growing every year, showing how theatre is gaining ground in the country. The sex ratio of the students is progressively getting skewed in favour of girls, which was not the case in the past.

Many of the students are happy to witness how theatre is practised in various parts of the world. The Theatre Olympics has exposed them to how the use of technology and various other innovative methods is doing wonders to the way theatre is experienced.

In this regard, the hot favourite of the students was the The Celestial Carillon set of lively images with the idea to “provoke confrontation between humans”, performed by Transe Express, a French performance company. A new dimension was added to theatrics with the use of musical chandelier, lighting system and other technological inputs.

There is an inspiring fusion of the East and the West. Like the award-winning director Atul Kumar’s brilliant adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play into Indian theatre tradition. Piya Behrupiya is the adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and mesmerised the audiences. In the globalised world, Kumar has shown the best way to preserve traditional and ethnic forms of theatre is by telling popular stories from the West.

Under the aegis of the Union ministry of culture, NSD claims this event has put India firmly among the top nations in the world theatre map as participants from about 30 countries —including Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, China France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Mauritius, Nepal, Poland, Russia, South Korea, the UK and the US — will showcase talent.

Theatre giants like Shabana Azmi, Paresh Rawal, Manoj Joshi, Himani Shivpuri, Seema Biswas and Saurabh Shukla are going to participate in the mega event. Prof Waman Kendre, director of NSD, says the 8th Theatre Olympics will help “regain the past glory of our nation… make it the cultural superpower of the world.” Such international events, he elaborated, will create a necessary platform for conversation between Indian and global artists to enrich our collective understanding and expression of art.

Arvind Gaur has a more down-to-earth approach. Extolling plays like Ambedkar aur Gandhi, which has done 1,000 shows till now, and Dustak Natak, which has seen 8,000 shows all over India, Gaur says the magic lies in stories that people want to watch: “Quality will sell, nothing else”.

Asmita’s festival, celebrating their 25-year anniversary, began on January 6 and will go on till March 25. Tickets are available for Rs 1 each, much lower than quoted on Bookmyshow (due to taxes) which shows a price of Rs 25, the lowest in the category.

Even after the festival ends, one can go watch their plays at an average cost of Rs 50 to the highest being Rs 200.

The most expensive tickets on offer online for the month of March are for the Delhi Theatre Festival. Tickets start at Rs 500 and go up to Rs 5,000, while for the production by Naseeruddin Shah – Ismat Aapa Ke Naam, starring himself, Ratna Pathak Shah and Heeba Shah – tickets start from Rs 1,000.

Tony points out that his company wants to create a large market for theatre and reach out to people other than regulars who attend such shows in Delhi. “Let’s say Anupam Kher comes to Kamani auditorium, 600-700 would watch it; but they are regulars, we want to change this”.

His group also want to tap into the market of weekend entertainment as an alternative to, say, “clubbing”. But would a larger number of people be able to afford plays such as the ones being hosted by the Delhi Theatre Festival?

Tony admits that the cost is high, “but with the sort of names attached to the shows, the costs were huge and this was inevitable.” He believes, however, that people won’t be put off by the charges. Last year saw a footfall of 4,000, this year they believe 12,000 will show up for the eight shows over three days that they have planned.

The group will also launch ‘Spotlight’, a concept of showcasing one play every month (for its entirety), starting April till February of 2019, before their third theatre festival. They have already roped in Shabana Azmi and the play Broken Images for the first performance.

But does giving a platform to already established stars and directors leave any space for new rising talent? Tony points to their international enclave starting from next year, which will include a competition. The winning play will be showcased internationally.

Gaur, on the other hand, believes in giving a platform for actors to train. He hopes they will go on to become teachers themselves, so “they’ll have an earning from theatre”. But he blames the culture ministry for the current situation of actors not being paid enough to sustain themselves in theatre.

“The government has a lot of money for theatre and they spend it, but there’s no accountability or transparency for where the fund is going. The central government, the state government, and academies will perhaps send the money to directors and it won’t ever reach the actors.” But those that become movies stars will have a better life of course, for example the likes of Kangana Ranaut, who has given credit for her career to Gaur himself in an interview.

Gaur wants the establishment of decentralised places where actors can learn, and rehearse. Iyer echoes the sentiment, saying centralised institutions are like “shackles” and “fortified castles people are being kept away from”.

For the most part, however, the city’s theatre scene seems to be looking up. Hopefully young, talented acts, get their place in the rising tide.

***

ISMAT APA KE NAAM – HINDI

Mar 9, 7 pm Siri Fort auditorium

Mar 10, 7pm Orana Conventions: Gurugram

Direction: Naseeruddin Shah

Writer: Ismat Chughtai

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Heeba Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah

Three stories in Urdu by the famed and much loved, not to say controversial, writer Ismat Chughtai (1915-1999) are being staged by Motley. The stories are set in middle-class Muslim homes in small town UP. Simplicity of approach is the defining factor in this production which has a minimal set and a simple manner of telling a story. The purpose is to not get in the way of the writing and to let the words of the writer emerge in all their truth and beauty.

KISHAN VS KANHAIYA – HINDI

Mar 10, 8pm, Siri Fort auditorium

March 11, 7pm Orana Conventions auditorium

Writer: Bhavesh Mandalia

Director: Umesh Shukla

Cast: Paresh Rawal

The drama is about an atheist’s battle with God. A story of an atheist, who incurs huge losses when his antique shop is destroyed by an earthquake. The story revolves around the fight of the atheist with the Almighty.

DOPHERI– HINDU & URDU

March 9, 7pm Orana Conventions, Gurugram

March 10, 2pm Siri Fort auditorium

Playwright & Director: Pankaj Kapur

A dramatic rendering of the novella by the same name, written by Pankaj Kapur two decades ago, Dopehri doesn’t make for a conventional drama. Pankaj Kapur’s one-act play is a solo performance as good as a theatre master-class. You will forget the technicalities as soon as he begins narrating Ammabis worldly tale of the loneliness that comes with old age. Pankaj Kapur makes you work hard; he intricately explains to you the dimensions of a Laal Haveli in Lucknow whilst you begin to imagine the emotions it encapsulates. Kapur’s understanding of human nature, its doubts and fears, reflects in the way he rounds off each character, adding nuances and subtleties that only a story-teller of his calibre can achieve.

LAST OVER – HINDI

March 11, 2pm Siri Fort auditorium

Writer: Abhishek Pattnaik

Director: Suketu Shah

Cast: Rakesh Bedi, Ananth Mahadevan, Gunjan Malhotra, Abhishek Pattnaik, Zachary Coffin and Abhishek Krishnan

Last Over is an urban, situational comedy in Hindi, revolving around a young and newly married couple. Zubaina Kazmi is from Pakistan and Sunny Arora is from India. The couple is in charge of the catering service of the cricket World Cup finals between India and Pakistan which is to be held at the prestigious Lords stadium, London. If being from rival countries isn’t enough, things become even worse for the couple when their fathers Nazir Kazmi and Jasjit Arora land up unannounced at their house in London. Being die-hard cricket fans, they have only one wish: A ticket to the World Cup finals. Unfortunately all the tickets are sold out. In the process of securing the tickets, the fathers end up making the lives of their children miserable. To what lengths will the fathers go to in order to get that one dream ticket? Will they give their acceptance to a marriage they were always against? Who will win this match?

UNFAITHFULLY YOURS – ENGLISH

March 11, 8pm, Siri Fort auditorium

Director: Raell Padamsee

Cast: Rohit Roy and Mona Singh

Unfaithfully Yours follows the relationship between Akash and Preet, a couple that is happily married… but not to each other. They have a romantic tryst once a year, which blossoms into a relationship that is as wrong as it is perfectly right. Twenty-five years of manners and morals are hilariously and touchingly played out. Their relationship is set against a backdrop of Indian events that reflect a changing world.

This story was published in the Patriot.