Book review - Autobiography of Naseeruddin Shah - Must read for theatre enthisiasts

And then One Day : A memoir  

- By Naseeruddin Shah

This book is strictly recommended for only theatre enthusiasts or Naseeruddin shah Fans.   A very frank notes of ones life, struggles and about the Film/theatre industry. 

Some of the quotes/excerpts  i specially liked:

Naseerji, this is not an art film, here you have to ACT!. 

-  as said by a director to Naseer 

On commercial Cinema and audience… 

…what i find terrifying is the degree of dumbing down the audience that these films have managed to achieve, i daresay intentionally. A habit of consuming junk has over the years been created in the audience. They ar enow irrevocably hooked to that taste , they crave it so they swallow anything that comes thus packaged, and ironically they are blamed for having to be pandered to. the films we make reflect no one’s inherent taste but our own. Every few months when some nonsensical multi-starrer flops, everybody assumes the audience has finally come of age but very soon they flock right back to something else equally shallow. its impossible to explain. 

               ----I have this same very feeling when i see friends going to watch salman khan, shahrukh khan, akshay kumar movies … and despite not liking it most of the time…ensure that they don’t miss the next one on Opening weekend. sic sic…

On motivation and popularity and the crap…

i cannot deny the paradox in my behavior that my motivation for booming an actor was not to uncover the secrets of the craft or to serve meaningful work to make my contribution to society but to get noticed.  i wanted to be known, I wanted to be rich, i wanted to be looked at, talked about; and when that started to happen in a serious way i found myself shying away.  i hated being accosted and treated with familiarity by strangers and i could no longer take compliments seriously - they came to me even for some very inferior work.  i had always thought i would love signing autographs, in fact had dreamed of the day i would and had practised half a dozen different ones when i was in school. but when it started to happen, and i was handed crumpled scraps of paper extracted from wallets or visiting cards with no space on them or even tissue paper, and not infrequently after signing was asked what my name was, i decided i hated this utterly meaningful exercise. i am often mistaken for Om Puri or Girish karnad or Nana patellar and congratulated on the work they did in their films. 

                         -Naseer went from National School of drama to FTII so that he can get into films. He preferred the camera to theatre … some reason attributed to the popularity and money.  its strange he came to the above argument soon… 

Einstein - Enacted by Naseeruddin Shah

A Solo By Naseer Sir was amazing in the way it kept the audience amused despite talking about certain scientific concepts which are difficult to understand ...theory of relativity and gravity.  Naseer is amazing to watch and especially the ease with which he got the accent and the voice modulation. Also loved the way the stage was used and the interaction  with the audience. 

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Personally, i believed the humor element was lower...but given it was Naseer who was playing the crowd was very happy to burst out into laughter on ....often repeated one-liners/jokes.  Also believe such the play because of Nasser attracted many first time Theatre go-ers and therefore the relatively friendly audience ready to burst into a laugh.

Few of the lines i liked from the play:

Its never wrong to ask questions.  My teacher punished me because I asked to many questions or my face looked i was about to ask a question.

When i was a teen ...My father wanted me to choose a profession. He therefore chose that of a electrician.

I failed the course of an electrician and became a Physics teacher. Those who are not good at anything become teachers.

http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/tflIRC1GMme7TCG9dxXeHN/Einstein-The-pacifist.html

Sakhram Ki khoj main hawaldar

Makrand deshpande pulls of another lovely play - " sakharam ki khoj main hawaldar" pulling in the past and the present - together.

The mode of revisiting an old play and making reality mix with theatre in theatre was amazing. The process of thinking not as a writer but thinking as how the character in your play would like to act/react and take forward the play was interesting. I especially liked the part were the character in the play questions the writer in the play to get him back into the play, as she will accept the writers story , but with a slight modification.

Can this happen in life? Wish it could?

While we are trying to find and play a role for ourselves in life. There is also everybody else's stories and plays which interact with our lives and creates stories. While we would so much like to write our own script , making the others characters , we cannot avoid the fact that others also treat us as characters trying to write our stories.

It is this interaction which creates relationships and conflicts.

Overall, a thought provoking experiment by makrand deshpande..

Imps and Love Letter

Imps and Love Letters

Saw two plays this weekend.

Love Letters:
Acted by Rajit kapoor and Shernaz Patel. The play was good and the play script was very similar to “ Tumhari Amrita” by Farooq Sheik and Shabana Azmi.

The play portrays the relationship between two childhood friends, which switches occasionally from friends to sex partners to mentors and guides etc. I personally liked the usage of building blocks as the set…meaning different things at different time. While the play was based in the USA and a few things were difficult to associate it (Tumhari Amrita scores over it because one could easily associate with the different socio-economic conditions). Nevertheless a lovely play with great acting.


IMPS
An experiment to the core and really good improvisation the play was about improvisation with complete participation of the audience. The play was essentially 2 teams of 5 each trying to compete against one another in various short acting scenes (games) with ideas from the audience. While it looked very much like a regular game show exhibited on TV or a college competition, the actors were definitely brilliant. While a lot of it was improvisation and was base on live inputs. A keen eye could easily decipher that much of it could have been pre-planned (enacted). However, full points to the cast (all first timers) who were brilliant. The team play and respect for the other artist’s space was awesome.
My personal favorites were the enactment of playing solitaire while trying to depict the daily life routine of an audience member. Most actors are made to work on improvisation, as any goof-up by any of the artists during the play should go unnoticed and look like a part of the play. In IMPS the actors gave their co-artists enough ground and scope to sail through any dicey situation. Which was lovely.

All and all a good experience.

plays i watch list 2

Ramesh talwar
Kashmakash—too good. Lovely satire (tamrapatra)

Manto ismat haazir hai…too much sic sic..
Sherlock Homi- Not Bad.
Getting it right
Moteram – was a disappointment

Dinesh Thakur
Jis Lahore nahi dekhiya.
Beewion Ka Madarsa
Hai mera dil

Paritosh painter
Paying guest
Yeh dil maange more
Uncle samjha karo.

Makarand deshpande.
Sir, Sir..Sarla – 1 & 2. Lovly. Saw them back-to-back.

Shakkar ke paanch daane – monologue. Life main sab kuch thik hi kiya hai.
Aapki soniya—Farooq sheikh and Sonali Bendre. Amazing play.
Shatranj ke Mohre- one of the best [plays. Rageshwari sachdeva is outstanding.

Om katare
Zaraa inse miliye—nahhhh

Bansuri- felt liking out…but later found it to be decent.
Black with equal- nice use of stage and lighting.

Rakesh Bedi
Biwi O Biwi- Very sic.

24 Ghante – Bharat Kapoor – a good try but failed many misfit roles.
Tajmahal ka tender.- great sattire
C for clown – rajat kapoor and team rulzzzzz- experimental
I am not baji rao – Must for mumbaite.
Please divorce me darling- Rati agnihotri long time break appearance.

Plays i have watched

Below is the List of plays i have watched...trying to remember as many as i can

Dr. Mukta - Jaya bachchan and Bharat kapoor excellent performance. My begining of appreciating theatre.

Rajat Kapoor
Pune Highway - The other actors were even amazing. Situational
Class of 84- easy to connect with.

Javed jaffery
Hum le gaye tum rah gaye -- triple role...

All the Best - feroz khan --- I died laughing was too much too handle.

Naseeruddin shah
Katha Collage 1,2-- I was goood especially bade bhaiya, but 2 could have been better.

Nadeera Babar
Munshiji ki gudgudiyaan - lovely stories especially HOLI. all new actors.
Operation cloudbursts- terrorism in Assam or revolution - a thought evoking play.

Habeeb Tanveer
Kaamdev ka apna vasant ritu ka sapna.. Too good especially the live tribal music and dance.