For people in Bengaluru, Arjun Sajnani needs no introduction. He is well known for running the Italian restaurant, Sunny’s and for his talent as an actor and theatre director. But Sajnani doesn’t speak much about himself, though there are quite a few achievements to his credit. He received an honorary award by the Karnataka Nataka Academy, and adapted Girish Karnad’s play The Fire and The Rain , into a film, Agnivarsha .
Perhaps because he is particular about the quality of plays he stages, Sajnani is in no hurry to stage production after production. After a brief hiatus since 2012, when he staged Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons , he is back in the theatre scene with David Ives’ Venus in Fur . “It was an immediate reaction to the script,” he says, when asked why he decided to stage Venus in Fur . “I took time deciding that I would do it. We had many discussions about the play.”
The play, an adaptation of an 1870 novella by Leopold von Sacher Masoch, takes a boldly humorous look at the politics of sex and power. The play is set in New York, in which writer-director Thomas Novachek is looking to cast for his new play, based on Masoch’s novel. Vanda Jones, a brash and struggling actor, bursts in to the auditions. Thomas, initially, isn’t impressed with her, until he discovers that her masterful performance far exceeds his expectations. What follows is a “tango of dominance” between actor and director, woman and man.
“I chose the play for the script,” says Sajnani. “I found it funny and topical. I chose a two-actor play since I wanted to stage a small production. The actors are quite good,” he says.
Nakul Bhalla essays the role of Thomas and Susan George that of Vanda. Venus in Fur is a darkly funny play-within-a-play, which though funny, is sometimes disturbing. “It is ‘disturbing’ in the sense that it is hard hitting. It provokes you into thinking. It deals with gender issues and also looks at what makes a person tick. The play is about reality. It is interesting, relevant and contemporary in nature.” But its charm, adds Sajnani, is that is doesn’t explain itself to readers. “We took our time in understanding and staging it.” Like the other plays he has directed, Sajnani says he always likes to see what he can bring to a production.
“Nakul had given me Roman Polanski’s film of Venus in Fur , but I didn’t watch it eventually,” says Sajnani, who developed an interest in theatre from his school days in Delhi.
From a directorial point of view, Sajnani says, film looks at things from another angle and theatre, from the point of view of the audience. “I bring the intensity of the moment in film and theatre.”
Speaking about the current state of English theatre in the city, Sajnani says, “Quality wise and content wise, I don’t know. But the fact that it is booming can only be termed as a good thing.”
Venus in Fur will be staged at Ranga Shankara from today till January 18 at 7.30 pm and Sunday matinee at 3.30 pm. Tickets are available at bookmyshow.com and at the venue. The play is suitable for mature audience only.
