At one of Versova’s newest hubs, the Veda Factory, which already bears a subtle time-worn look, an unimposing facade leads us down a rabbit-hole of umpteen audition rooms, to a bustling cafe that is almost always chock-a-block with cinema hopefuls. Further behind is a functionally put together black box theatre that has been attracting buzz among theatrewalas. The buzz owes to its warehouse-style ethos that lends better to experimental works than some of the nondescript halls masquerading as performance spaces in the area. While legitimate professional works like Abhinav Grover’s Raamji Aayenge have been staged here, the venue has embraced a parallel culture of amateur theatre in an area packed with acting schools.
Geared towards generating ready talent for the ever-burgeoning ‘camera-oriented’ industries, these enterprises frequently employ theatre training techniques, and staging plays with successive batches are a part of their curricula.
Passion projects
For instance, every day since last Thursday and running through to the end of this week, is a Theatre Mela featuring a mind-boggling 22 performances of 11 plays. Organised by The Crafters, an acting institute, these are all productions that have been part of its six-month training programs over the last three years, now assembled together in an enviable roster. It must be mentioned that these are student showcases, so qualms about quality might not be completely allayed. One name that stands out in this chequered itinerary is that of Rohit Chaudhry, an NSD-trained actor and faculty-member at The Crafters, who has directed the bulk of the plays, and given counsel to the others. “We pride ourselves at putting up more productions for students than any other group,” says the actor of films like Bareilly ki Barfi and Padmaavat , for whom theatre has remained a lifelong passion.
A gruelling rehearsal schedule of more than two months has led to the mounting of this intrepid exhibition of Hindi theatre. To its credit, the productions are not portable monologues or two-handers, but include large ensemble pieces. Chaudhry’s ambitious Viraasat is based on Mahesh Elkunchwar’s epic Wada trilogy. Then there are productions of Vijay Tendulkar plays, like Khamosh Adalat Jaari Hai or Jaati Hi Poocho Sadhu Ki ; Mahesh Dattani’s 30 Days in September ; and even an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men titled Ye Aadmi Ye Chuhe . Although the plays don’t usually have a life outside the institution, Chaudhry’s production of the Dattani play was part of a studio theatre festival at the Bewajah Art Centre in Lucknow. “Running the mela is a logistical nightmare and has always left us with financial deficits, but it is also a show of strength that validates our vision,” explains Chaudhry.
Nurturing talent
The Crafters’ model of training is replicated across Andheri, where acting academies and venues have mushroomed over the past few years, offering paid courses and exposure to professionally trained faculty. This is a not entirely lucrative sideline for NSD alumni, who bring in craft and rigour from their own training, although this knowledge might be disseminated in arguably smaller doses. Chaudhry’s institute runs its classes from a venue at D N Nagar, where the plays are initially performed. At Aaram Nagar itself, spaces like the Castiko Space, the Empty Space Acting Academy, or Asmita Theatre’s Mumbai headquarters, are all multi-purpose nerve centres of acting-related proceedings — workshops, auditions, tutelage, talks — doubling up as performance venues that attract theatre outfits with their reasonable rates, facilities and access to audiences.
Operating in similar fashion are the Five Senses Studio in Adarsh Nagar, and Footlight at Four Bungalows (which houses the Kreating Charakters institute). So, a veritable sub-culture has taken root in the suburbs catering to the large entertainment industry, rumbling in the distance. Theatre, of course, remains the underpaid vocation of choice with its passion projects and conflicts, but it is also ironically the important connective tissue that holds together this nebulous world.
Theatre Mela is on till Sunday, May 19 at Veda Factory, Andheri West; see bookmyshow.com
