She is someone who stands out in a crowd, even before you rack your brain and finally place her as an actor on screen! Some people are born with magnetic appeal – say that to Himani Shivpuri and she brushes it away with a bashful admission, “I was complimented for looking young and yet was offered roles of aunts, sister-in-law and very soon grandma too!”
Though known through her television and film career to people at large, Himani’s heart lies in drama. “The stage is my first love. It gives me immense self-satisfaction, a sort of power because a stage actor carries the audience along; it’s a live performance; spontaneity is its soul. I say this despite rehearsals. Theatre is an actor’s medium though behind the stage there is a playwright, director and perhaps in some, a music composer too, yet the actor is the one who ultimately tells the story to the viewers,” says this year’s Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for her contribution to theatre.
What difference does it make vis-a-vis cinema or television? “The live part,” pat comes the answer. “In cinema, the canvas is vast, actors are larger than life but there is the distance through screen that separates the actor from the viewer. Drama pulsates with live characters who also create on stage an illusion of life with their body kinetics, language and gestures. The audience immediately identifies with the character right in front of them.” There are many movies with emotional scenes or stories where the viewer gets carried away by the situation and identifies with it or with the character playing it, one points out. “Perhaps from an audience point of view, it is true. But I’m giving an insider’s view point. As an actor, the whole process of shooting for movie or television is so artificial though the final product may be extremely realistic to the viewer. We enact roles, some with ease and some after a few takes till the director is satisfied with the emotion we display. In drama, during the rehearsal process itself, we start getting into the skin of the character since we know that we have to carry the whole play on our individual shoulder. That gives the adrenaline rush. Theatre is an allied art; it is like the real person while cinema is like a photograph of that person.”
Sad state of affairs
Though drama gave her immense joy, Himani opted for movies for ‘moolah’ as she says. “Hindi drama unlike Marathi or Gujarati stage does not provide continued sustenance to an artiste. It’s a disturbing trend. Hindi theatre has moved towards television and cinema. Mohan Agashe used to say, ‘I have no plays to perform, no dedicated script-writers’. And those that are surviving are doing so with government grants. Marathi plays run for more than 25 days a month because I’m told almost every household budgets a part of its monthly income to watch a stage play! This inspired me not to give up on theatre though I get despaired at times with the Hindi theatre scenario. I made a ritual of dramatising my father’s story and staged it for some years as a tribute to him. People came to see but if I ever thought of ticketing it to keep my budget going, well, audience will just vanish. That is the state of affairs. A Marathi or Gujarati stage actor can survive on his plays not us, Naseeruddin Shah may be an exception. But he too came into movies. We all have to willy-nilly since we are artistes with love for art and with it comes love of recognition. Cinema makes you immortal, we got to admit that. And TV gives instant popularity.”
Driving down memory lane, Himani speaks her heart, “I was playing Desdemona (Hindi version) with (Govind) Namdev as Othello at a remote Gujarati village. I had my own trepidation about the play being accepted by rural folk who had no clue about my period costume and the original Shakespearean tragedy. And the response from nearly 2000 odd viewers was so warm that I felt humbled to have even imagined that they were not intelligible. I felt touched!”
Narrating two incidents which gave her a high as a stage actor, she says, “A lady came up to me in Chennai and complimented me on my acting in ‘Mitro Marjani’ by Krishna Sobti. I was taken aback for I expected her to say something relating to films. She happened to be one of the niche audience of theatre. Similarly, my adult son after watching me on stage one day came up to me saying he was proud of me! It is so nice to hear people like Nawazuddin (Siddiqui) remember me in my stage roles even now. I’ve given the best part of my youth to stage and only entered films later thanks to Sooraj Barjatya.”
Lingering memories
Talking about memories that rankle her, Himani reflects, “There are many but it was the day when my services were suddenly terminated by the then head of Repertory company (NSD) where I was getting Rs.2000 a month all for taking leave and going to do a pilot project for Humrahi TV serial. I was at a loss, financially hitting the low. That is when I accepted a small role in a Hindi film.”
A brilliant PG in organic chemistry, a classical dancer and singer, Himani took to swimming against the current. Instead of pursuing an academic research abroad, she chose to enter the gates of National School of Drama making a life out of art. “No regrets. I pursued my passion and that makes me happy to date,” she laughs as she signs off.
