Known to be a power-house actor, with decades of experience in theatre, Anish Victor wears his success lightly. The unassuming actor, lighting designer and facilitator says his journey in theatre, since 1991, didn’t follow a deliberate plan. “I happened to be at a point where something was happening. The only time I am creating is when I am performing.”
His recent production, Koogu , which means ‘to call’ in Kannada, is a work in progress. Through Koogu , which he developed with Michel Casanovas, Anish has embarked on a completely different journey. It is difficult to define Koogu, as it is an exploration of Anish’s life and world events, calling forth our inner warrior.
“ Koogu marks the start of a project, Point of Departures, ” he says, as we settle down for a chat at Shoonya Centre for Art and Somatic Practice, where he will be part of Phirki, a summer workshop for children to conduct a session on shadow puppetry ( >www.shoonyaspace.com ). “For Point of Departures , I hope to create four pieces of work to build an escape velocity from Bangalore.” And so what makes him want to pull away? “The city has a power to keep you engaged. There’s a strong call to disengage. I hope it’s not running away. I am not sure. But in my mind, it is about shedding. My life is enmeshed. I can’t switch on and switch off and compartmentalise. Koogu is also a part of me.”
Koogu has been performed in varied spaces in Bangalore, within India and abroad. And with every performance, new dimensions have been added to the performance. “In Assam, I performed in a forest of sal trees. It did feel as though the trees were responding. There would be a rustle here, a movement there. There was life in the forest and I felt part of that life. I played under Nature, not within or against it. I performed in Spaces in Chennai. And it is an open space. I felt the same oneness with Nature. And I realised I am not interested in performing for. I am interested in performing with. I think the audience was performing with me.”
Koogu also travelled to Nairobi, Kenya. “I performed Koogu in a proscenium. There was a man in the audience who had tears in his eyes. After the performance, he came up to tell me: ‘Thank you for reminding me.’”
When Anish entered the world of theatre in 1991, he was a curtain puller. “I started spending more time in the lighting room and did lights. Then I started assisting people in theatre.”
Anish moved onto work as a lighting designer in fashion shows. “I was part of the lighting team for Femina Miss India, 2000. Then I knew I had to stop. I remember seeing women set up the stage, tying the ropes and putting everything into place. And then there was this bus with ‘Femina Miss India, 16 most beautiful women in the country’. I knew I just had to stop.” And Anish came back to theatre. “I returned to Rafiki, which I co-founded with some of my friends, and I started doing lights full time.”
Theatre in Bengaluru, says Anish, has undergone a change. “We would live in the auditoriums and rehearsal spaces. The approach now seems clear. The marketing is clear, the choice of plays, unclear,” he laughs.
With Point of Departures Anish seeks to tread on a completely different creative journey. But he doesn’t discount his previous experiences.
“All of that has informed me to make these departures. But I am not able to do a Chekhov, for instance, any more. I can’t assume another character. I don’t want to play as if. I want to play as is.”
