New Delhi: Theatre is a living, breathing art form. “It has a heart and mind. It grows and it dies,” said director and actor Ratna Pathak Shah at a talk on theatre in Indian languages, beyond Urdu, Hindi, and English. And it thrives on language and imagination.
Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada theatre
have flourished. But the ‘big three’—Urdu, Hindi and English—have remained stagnant. The same theatrical plays go on and on for decades on end.
The India Habitat Centre’s (IHC) Stein Auditorium was packed with theatre enthusiasts on the evening of 14 December to listen to Shah. She’s a prominent figure in Indian theatre having acted in plays such as ‘Ismat Apa ke Naam’, ‘Mughal Bachha’, and ‘Old World’.
Today, there’s a huge need for visuals rather than the imaginative in the theatre, she said. But it wasn’t always like that. The art form began with the simple desire to tell a story with imagination as the tool. People would make time for it.
“Whether your mother narrated a story, or a storyteller did, imagination was used,” she said.
But then the ‘talkies’ arrived. Movies stepped in to satisfy the needs of most people, and theatre’s influence began to diminish. Theatre groups were lacking new stories to tell in popularly spoken languages like Urdu, Hindi and English. On the other hand, theatre artists in states like Maharashtra and Gujarat tried to keep the theatre alive.
They kept looking for new stories to enact for audiences that have stayed loyal to them even after OTT platforms like Netflix, Hotstar and Amazon Prime took over during and after the pandemic.
“Theatre is very difficult. Only deewane (crazy) do it now,” Shah said.
Also read: Artist Raja Ravi Varma and his quiet revolution
‘Nomadic’ theatre
Back when Shah was a child, famous theatre groups would engage people in English theatre such as Shakespeare. However, only a limited class of audience would watch these plays. Over the last few decades, things have changed considerably, she said.
“Marathi theatre was much more interesting and varied,” she said.
Unlike other theatres, Marathi theatre has maintained its reputation and still offers among the most thought-provoking plays in India.
Over the years, great writings have emerged from the Marathi language in the theatrical circuits. This includes life-changing historical movement shifts within this space, place with a long tradition, a solid audience base, and a strong producers’ lobby, Shah explained.
Another reason for Maharashtra’s success in keeping the culture of theatre alive has been the cost of tickets, making the experience affordable for people. “Even today, the ticket does not cost more than Rs 700,” said Shah.
Shah added that in Marathi theatre, actors perform three shows in one day with the use of two sets in different places where they travel frequently and all of these shows happen with a break of two hours in between.
“So everything is cheap. They create the set in a hurry and remove it in a hurry and move on to the next location,” she said. “Marathi theatre artists are nomadic actors.”
For Ismat
Some of the best plays are the result of chance encounters–and alchemy. That’s how Ismat Apa ke Naam was born.
On a random afternoon, Shah’s husband and fellow actor Naseeruddin Shah bumped into Ismat Chughtai at a bookshop in Mumbai. The author was never known to mince her words. She stared at him accusingly
and said “Kamaal hai, mujhe jaante ho, pehchante ho… tumne mera kaam bhi nahi padha. Sharm nahi aati tumko? (Wow, you know me, recognise me… yet you haven’t read my work. Aren’t you ashamed?” Ratna recalled.
So, he picked up the book, read it entirely and decided to create a play about Chughtai’s stories in which Ratna Pathak Shah adopted the old traditional way of grandmothers narrating stories. At one point she would be a character and at the next, the narrator again.
They were initially worried that many in Mumbai would not understand Urdu. However, it turned out to be a major success. Over the past 22 years, Motley Productions, founded by Naseeduddin Shah has staged the play 600 times.
The strong characters in Chughtai’s stories are the reason why play adaptations are so successful. Shah narrated the story of one of the characters, Lajjo, a woman in her early forties who does not see the need to marry. “Kya zarurat hai miya? (What’s the need?)” She questions when a man suggests that she should get married. “She’s a postmodern woman. She’s extraordinary and has her own sense of morality. She’s not a dil phenk (generous), She’s a survivour,” Ratna said.
It was plays like this that taught Shah how art can connect people.
“It has been an eye-opening experience,” she said.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)
If Ismat Chughtai expects people to read her works then she must first write something worth reading.
And if manages to write something worth reading, rest assured people will read in drives. She would not have to scold anyone to read her works.