I’m very worried about what I’m going to write for my next article. I’m shooting my second film, away from my regular theatre watching haunts, in Kochi. Not sure I’m going to be able to watch anything new for some time, or be directly involved in the performance of any shows.
Yes, we have a new play opening for Aadyam in September, and a show is going to London to perform at a delightful venue called Sam Wanamaker Playhouse which is lit only by candles, but owing to my limited involvement, the next edition of this column may be somewhat vicarious. I have limited understanding (and respect) for abbreviations young people use so often, but I believe I’ll experience something like ‘FOMO’.
A bunch of theatre people are acting in this movie, if that’s any consolation. Starting from Irrfan at the top, who graduated from National School of Drama, and shared some fascinating stories from his years there, including interactions with Ratan Thiyam. I fully intend to get some more out of him. Mithila Palkar, internet sensation, has her roots in theatre too. And a connection with Thespo, the youth theatre festival, where I began.
There’s also Akash Khurana (my father and theatre veteran), Nipun Dharmadhikari (Pune’s enfant terrible, also making his feature film directorial debut this year), Sarang Sathaye (actor and director from Pune, now making waves in Mumbai), and Siddharth Kumar (actor and award winning playwright) among many others.
Actors from the theatre have featured in everything I have directed — a television movie, a web series, internet sketches, and now two feature films. I find it relatively easy to block scenes for camera because I have been doing it for 17 years on stage. The more I branch out, the more it becomes apparent that theatre is where my roots are.
Aura of the ancient
Last month, we were at The Hindu Theatre Fest for what may have been our sixth time, if not seventh. We performed at the lovely Museum Theatre.
One is willing to overlook issues like sight lines and leaky roofs when the performance venue has beauty and age among its merits. And the play we performed was written 36 years ago by Vijay Tendulkar, and dealt with a period in the 1940s when homosexuality was strictly taboo. Performing that play in that venue certainly felt like a pretty vintage experience in itself.
In contrast, we had a pretty unpleasant experience back in Mumbai. While I still remain a supporter of alternate spaces, and have pushed a lot of shows with good effect at eateries and watering holes, a recent experience at one such supposedly upmarket venue in Mumbai left a bad taste in the mouth. After a bunch of very well-attended shows at this venue, we had one with a decent but not spectacular house. I had in the past questioned the policy of allowing diners to use another section of the space when we are performing, as they are there to eat and drink and chat, and not hold their silence for the 80-minute duration of a play. We insisted that this policy be reconsidered, and were promised it would be.
However, the moment the house was not full, a wicked sense of commerce crept in, and diners were allowed in. And a pretty boisterous bunch at that. The show went on, as it must, and the audience enjoyed it thoroughly, but we did not. It was loud and distracting and just plain wrong.
Very upset with the proceedings, I went to discuss this with the management. I was told “they (the diners) pay for this (the play), so the kitchen cannot shut.” I was also told, “This (theatre) doesn’t make us money, and we only do it because we are passionate about it.”
Just not ok
I see how keeping a bar and a kitchen running noisily is a great example of passion for the arts. I switched off, and decided to let this be the last association with the venue. One of our disgruntled cast members managed to improvise a little bit about the ridiculous nature of the predicament. And we refused the free meal usually offered to the performing artistes. I wish I could have made my displeasure more dramatic. Maybe that’s what I’m doing here.
Clearly a balance will need to be found. And one can see it emerging. Encouraged by this trend of alternate spaces, a lot of venues are cropping up which are firstly for theatre, and also have some F&B to boot. Here also, the food sold probably helps keep the place alive, but the people who run these venues are genuinely passionate with their priorities right.
There is a place in Mumbai called Aram Nagar Part Two. It is basically two open grounds with lots of little bungalows lining them. These have traditionally become production offices for films and television. My film has its office there too. But in the last year, at least four of these bungalows have become performance spaces, and they’re all a five-minute walk apart. Someone called it the Broadway of Bombay. I wouldn’t go that far.
But, it is a makeshift haven for young and upcoming theatre enthusiasts, with the correct intention of providing encouragement and opportunity. These, and more like these, are cultural ventures trying to be commercial, and not the other way around. ‘Imma’ stick to these.
Akarsh Khurana is a theatre producer and director and hence often broke. To cope, he writes and directs films and web series and occasionally acts, albeit reluctantly.
