Jeff Goldberg thinks of himself an actor, director and a writer. “Of the three, I have been writing the longest. Directing [comes] second, and acting for a while. As a creative person, I’m fortunate that I’m able to do all three,” says the multi-faceted man, who made Mumbai his home two years ago by setting up the eponymous Jeff Goldberg Studio where he trains actors in filmmaking and acting. In the past, Goldberg has been a faculty member at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, School of Visual Arts and Fordham University in New York, before Mumbai’s creative energy caught up with him.
City musingsIt was while working on a film in 2006 that Goldberg visited India for the first time and was struck by the endless possibilities and potential Mumbai holds. “I was here for about two months and spent a lot of time learning and reading about India’s culture and watching Bollywood films,” he says. He was here again in 2009, and this time, he stayed for around three years before moving to New York for a year. In 2014, he set up the Jeff Goldberg Studio in Mumbai. “And now, I don’t see myself going anywhere,” he laughs.
To Goldberg, Mumbai represents a melting pot where potential, possibilities and timing come together to create a perfect storm of creativity. “A creative person wants to be at a place where exciting and new things are happening and it’s all happening right here,” he emphasises.
The road aheadWhen Goldberg started the studio, it was with the sense of bringing the artistic community together. Does he feel the purpose has been achieved? “It’s a successful work in progress,” he smiles. “Everybody who has trained here feels part of the family and that’s a humbling and wonderful feeling. If you knock on the door, we know you’re new here. If you walk right in, it’s like coming home,” he says.
The plan ahead includes expansion to other cities, including Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata and even an international presence in Dubai to take its “brand of acting” ahead. And by that, he means a sense of awareness that acting is not just an art, but a craft as well. “One has to practice and train to be a good actor. It will not happen if you are cute or talented or gifted. Our brand of acting is, therefore, practical and applicable,” he adds.
Goldberg’s other aim, is to grow creatively. “We have done short films, TVCs, theatre. [We] want to expand our footprint in theatre and also do feature films. My two big dream projects are a feature film and a musical for the stage, both of which I am currently working on. As a writer and director, I’m in a creative space and it’s just a matter of finishing the scripts and finding the right collaborators,” he says.
Play timeThis weekend, two plays — Cookie Machine and Six — are being staged at the National Centre for Performing Arts. While he’s written and acted in the former, Jeff has written the latter and directs Suhail Sidhwani and Prateik Babbar. “We opened the shows in July and August this year at the studio and they were both sold out,” he says. Both plays deal with the inner workings of the heart. Six , which also marks actor Prateik Babbar’s debut onstage, is a play that deals with homosexuality. “But we’re not interested in homosexuality as a topic. It is about two people in love who, unfortunately, can’t be together because of circumstances and it’s heartbreaking for them. You see that happening around you — young people falling in love and waking up to the realities of life which outweigh the love, and that’s painful,” he elaborates.
Cookie Machine , on the other hand, is about acceptance and the story of an ageing rock-and-roll star’s encounter with his son. “We don’t get to pick our family, and there are times we find ourselves having problems with them. But the only way to move forward is to accept who they are and who we are,” he concludes.
The author is a freelance writer
Cookie Machine at 7 p.m. today; Six at 7 p.m. on Sunday; both plays will be staged at the Godrej Dance Theatre, NCPA
