At the start of the interview, eminent theatre personality Arundhati Nag makes a point. “Telugu theatre is far behind,” she states and explains, “We don’t see Telugu plays being represented at the national level. You have such a rich language but there is no Telugu representation; a good contemporary Telugu play is not happening.” Arundhati was in the city for the third Ramkinkar Baij memorial lecture at LV Prasad Eye Institute and hopes for a driving change in the theatre scenario in urban centres. “You have a fantastic company called Surabhi, the 125-year old company with 60 members of the family living under the same roof. But see the state in which the Surabhi members are living. If Telangana doesn’t wake up and declare it a national or state wealth, it might just disappear in another 10 years. I really wish something happens and more theatre comes from the urban centres. While you preserve your language, you have to keep up with the Joneses also.” HYDERABAD:
Since childhood Arundhati was drawn towards stage and was five when she saw a Ramleela performance and was enamoured by a Sardarji, who played Sita. “The magic of theatre lies in the fact that within five minutes an actor is able to convince that he is not a man but a woman or a woman is able to convince that she is not a woman but a man. That whole suspension of disbelief which is the basis of performance art and mostly theatre happened to me at that young age. And, that Sardarji who was playing Sita year after year was chosen because he had long hair. He would cover his face in a and spoke in a male voice yet to all of us he was Sita, a woman,” she recalls and asserts even as a 60-year-old, she is still mesmerised. dupatta
Arundhati shares the experience of being part of , an experimental play by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour with no sets, rehearsals or director. “It was a great and humbling experience. I must give credit to the playwright as it is a very clever and superb piece of writing where the artistes matter a little and are just a vehicle, a medium to deliver,” she says and adds, “I enjoyed it but was tired after it was over. It took so much from me to be in the moment and keep your faculties razor sharp. When you do a play, you rehearse for a month. Here it was spontaneous. As you spoke you were realising what things were about. It was like a performance; a reality show where you can’t fool around.” White Rabbit Red Rabbit
Arundhati hopes to see Rangashankara style of theatre space in every urban city. “We have built a theatre space which has 400 performances a year. It is a huge success and I believe that if you provide that kind of space in Hyderabad, Telugu theatre will flourish in the next five years.”
She received rave reviews for her role as Ramunajan’s mother in . “It is very strange that people come to me for roles once in 4-5 or even six years. After there was a gap and then I acted in ‘ People take time to approach me and I am not aggressive at all. I don’t have a secretary so they have to find me and come on their own.” The Man who knew InfinityPaaThe Man...’.
When we ask her why we have never seen hre in Telugu cinema, she remarks, “Strangely, no one has ever asked me.” She concludes by sharing her dream: “India needs to invest in its children. It is needed that we put a pedagogy together for theatre for children. We need to take art to schools and take it further. India has to invest in its youngsters.”
