A long hard stare is enough.He doesn’t need to shout to ensure that the actors do just what he wants them to.And perfectly. Of course, his little twin daughters who are also part of his group ensure that they do just the opposite.Strict Arvind Gaur can be an obedient daddy.He was in Chandigarh to stage Ashok Lal’s Ek Mamooli Aadmi.Director of Delhi-based ASMITA,country’s largest contemporary
theatre group, boasting of more than 50 regular and 20 part-time actors,Arvind hates clichés. “Who says that today’s youngsters are uninterested in theatre and unfocussed? Who says you can’t survive on theatre? I am witnessing a sea change in today’s youth.
They are not just socially and politically aware but also know what they want, precisely,” says the director, who has to his credit major
productions like Dharamvir Bharti’s Andha Yug, Girish Karnad’s Tuglaq,Mahesh Dattani’s Final Solutions,Swadesh Deepak's Courtmartial and Bertolt Brecht's Ramkali among others.
Talk about the present scenario of independent theatre groups and Arvind’s optimism seems to fade. “This country desperately needs a national cultural policy. Hindi theatre is so dependent on grants and nobody has clarity who should get it, what are the recipients doing with the same, or is the money flowing to the actor? Nothing is being done to promote theatre, and dialogue between theatres of different regions.” Isn’t it surprising that an organisation like the National School of Drama has a budget running in crores, and there is so little for independent theatre groups. “Precisely.
Everything is flowing there. How can the government assume that only the NSD is doing theatre? The School isn’t ready to decentralise, only 20 students every year… from Bihar,
from Punjab, from Manipur. Their mother language isn’t Hindi but they are trained to do Hindi theatre. I see little sense in promoting Hindi theatre as national theatre. Why can’t there be autonomous NSDs in different parts of the country like the IITs and IIMs, so as to ensure more training and better employment opportunities?”
For Arvind, whose theatre has always dealt with socio-political themes and brought forth contemporar issues like communalism,marginalisation, domestic violence,casteism, state violence, smiles the moment you talk about corporate sponsorships. “Yes, post-liberalisation,we witnessed some major business houses coming forth with festivals and grants, but then, my work doesn’t ‘sell’ in the market.”
The director, who doesn’t rely on government aid or state and central academies for sponsored shows insists that it’s the audience that keeps ASMITA alive and kicking. “We have ticketed shows and the audience response is always more than satisfactory. When you’re doing relevant theatre that touches people, they come back for more. As far as sponsored shows by the state and central academies are concerned, I am generally ignored, thanks to the themes I work on and the fact that most academies have their coterie.” Several film actors including Kangna Ranaut, Piyush Mishra, and Deepak Dobriyal may have been part of ASMITA in the past, but Arvind has nothing against theatre talent going to cinema. “Why should I? I am glad that theatre is becoming such a great medium for people to multiply the canvas of their dreams… After all, it’s about dreams, no?”
Photo by Sandeep Sahdev for Daily Post
theatre group, boasting of more than 50 regular and 20 part-time actors,Arvind hates clichés. “Who says that today’s youngsters are uninterested in theatre and unfocussed? Who says you can’t survive on theatre? I am witnessing a sea change in today’s youth.
They are not just socially and politically aware but also know what they want, precisely,” says the director, who has to his credit major
productions like Dharamvir Bharti’s Andha Yug, Girish Karnad’s Tuglaq,Mahesh Dattani’s Final Solutions,Swadesh Deepak's Courtmartial and Bertolt Brecht's Ramkali among others.
Talk about the present scenario of independent theatre groups and Arvind’s optimism seems to fade. “This country desperately needs a national cultural policy. Hindi theatre is so dependent on grants and nobody has clarity who should get it, what are the recipients doing with the same, or is the money flowing to the actor? Nothing is being done to promote theatre, and dialogue between theatres of different regions.” Isn’t it surprising that an organisation like the National School of Drama has a budget running in crores, and there is so little for independent theatre groups. “Precisely.
Everything is flowing there. How can the government assume that only the NSD is doing theatre? The School isn’t ready to decentralise, only 20 students every year… from Bihar,
from Punjab, from Manipur. Their mother language isn’t Hindi but they are trained to do Hindi theatre. I see little sense in promoting Hindi theatre as national theatre. Why can’t there be autonomous NSDs in different parts of the country like the IITs and IIMs, so as to ensure more training and better employment opportunities?”
For Arvind, whose theatre has always dealt with socio-political themes and brought forth contemporar issues like communalism,marginalisation, domestic violence,casteism, state violence, smiles the moment you talk about corporate sponsorships. “Yes, post-liberalisation,we witnessed some major business houses coming forth with festivals and grants, but then, my work doesn’t ‘sell’ in the market.”
The director, who doesn’t rely on government aid or state and central academies for sponsored shows insists that it’s the audience that keeps ASMITA alive and kicking. “We have ticketed shows and the audience response is always more than satisfactory. When you’re doing relevant theatre that touches people, they come back for more. As far as sponsored shows by the state and central academies are concerned, I am generally ignored, thanks to the themes I work on and the fact that most academies have their coterie.” Several film actors including Kangna Ranaut, Piyush Mishra, and Deepak Dobriyal may have been part of ASMITA in the past, but Arvind has nothing against theatre talent going to cinema. “Why should I? I am glad that theatre is becoming such a great medium for people to multiply the canvas of their dreams… After all, it’s about dreams, no?”
Photo by Sandeep Sahdev for Daily Post
