For many years, Preeta Mathur worked with Dinesh Thakur, first her mentor and then husband, an eminent theatre director and actor, who ran his group ‘Ank’ for more than forty years. After he passed away in 2012, there were doubts about Ank’s survival. But Preeta picked up the reins and has proved to be an able administrator and leader. “There was no doubt, even for a day, about keeping Ank going. At first I thought let’s run it for five years and see; that period got over and we are in our next five years and going strong.”
While she was acting in all Ank’s plays, Preeta she also held a corporate job, doing the long and tiring Mumbai commute, still keeping up the energy to rehearse every evening and find the time to present Ank’s many popular productions in the city and elsewhere.
After years of that grind, she quit her job quite recently, to devote time to theatre full-time. “I believed that I would have the time to write, but I have just been so busy. I also thought I would miss my office and status but I haven’t missed it at all. When I found some time, we simply took on more shows and started touring a lot more. And when you are travelling, you are everything, from peon upwards!”
Preeta has just returned from the Dastak Festival in Singapore, where she directed her first play — a short piece called ‘Ek Din Bank Mein’, a comedy about the encounter between an overwrought woman and a hapless bank manager. “Dastak organises a festival of ten short plays, and invites one group from outside, so I decided to direct a play, which is the first time I have put my name out there. When Dineshji was ill, and we had to keep our plays going, we had to replace actors regularly and I had to do that kind of uncredited direction all the time. Dineshji had a format, but people are different, so you are always thinking of how to get the best out of them. This time, I adapted, designed and directed a play by myself. I always had the experience, this was a step forward.”
Preeta says that she didn’t realise just how hilarious the play was till a group of Singaporean drama students came to watch a technical rehearsal and started laughing. “When we were working on it, the people in the group didn’t even crack a smile, so I could not tell. I’ve always wondered how Dineshji could always tell what would work and what would not. He was sure that if we did things exactly as he told us to, it would work out well. He was acting and could not see himself, still he was confident… I think I will get there slowly. After all the stress and nervousness I go through with every play, somewhere at the back of my mind, I know that if I am confident, things will be fine.”
Over the years, Preeta says that she has worked out her own style of direction. “Dineshji had a format that was good for the actors; it was certainly good for me. He used to — and I do too — work on the dialogue before we go on the floor. We get it right after several readings. He would ask the actors not to start learning the lines till we started on the movement. I give the actors more leeway and let them take that call. He was strict and disciplined; all I insist on is continuous work till the right note is achieved. You can’t take long breaks in between rehearsals and hope to remember all the details. I am a little more relaxed, because I think I can also learn something from the new people who join Ank. I give my inputs, but I like it if they give suggestions, so that they feel more responsible and involved. I believe in teamwork and delegating responsibility. After all I also want to enjoy what I do. I take on all the stress of a show only up to a point; then everyone has to do what they are supposed to and there will be no more hand-holding. Ideally, two hours before a show starts, I want to go into my own space.”
Three objectives
A lot of the older members of Ank are still with the group, and more actors are inducted through the six-month Ank Disha workshop. After Thakur’s demise, Mathur also decided to work with other directors — seniors like Devendra Raj Ankur and Ramgopal Bajaj — as well as younger ones like Atul Mathur and Veena Bakshi.
“When I took over Ank, I had three objectives: One was maintaining quality; the second was for Ank to grow as a group, and the third was for every member of Ank to grow. I encouraged people to write and direct. Dineshji had a different kind of charisma to keep people together, but the way I see it, if actors don’t see any growth for themselves, they are not going to stick around with the team,” says Preeta.
Mathur used some of her mother’s bequest to create a workspace which she calls Ank Studio. “So we have our own place to rehearse; otherwise in Mumbai, it is difficult and very expensive to find the right space. Like always, we make it a point to rehearse every evening. During the daytime, the actors can do their jobs or go on shoots.” The last couple of years, Ank’s plays have travelled to places like Jaipur, Bikaner, Dehradun, Agra, Jabalpur and Alwar. She ties up with local groups to hold Dinesh Thakur Memorial Theatre Festivals in various places, raising money through grants and sponsorships, while the local partners do the management and marketing.
Says Preeta: “I realised that the trick is to go on working. Make plans and work, money will happen. What is important is that we are building new, paying audiences in these places, which was unheard of, say, ten years ago. I insist on tickets, we will never perform for free. We have to keep the momentum going, good people come along and join up. We can help one another with our areas of expertise.”
Plans for the near future include a festival in Ajmer, where Mathur studied, a new comedy called ‘Hamari Neeta Ki Shaadi,’ and hopefully, the much-longed for theatrical adaptation of Kiran Nagarkar’s ‘Cuckold.’
“My script is ready, I am waiting for inputs from Kiran. You know, those intense plays Ank used to do? Plays like ‘Kanyaaan,’ ‘Anji,’ ‘Jis Lahore Nahin Dekhya?’ I want to do something intense again…,” says an optimistic Preeta.
(The writer is a Mumbai-based critic and columnist)
