What intrigues me is that, basically being a painter, an artist and an art teacher, what triggered this passion for theatre in you?
I started doing professional theatre before I graduated from college, though my family was not comfortable with the idea of my taking up theatre as a career. They allowed me to do theatre along with regular studies on the condition that my grades in academics do not go down. My career in theatre began in 1978 and to everyone’s pleasant surprise, my grades improved when I took on theatre seriously. Painting began in real seriousness much later with my first exhibition in 1984.
It is really difficult for a woman, specially a Punjabi woman to venture into theatre because of the tremendous demands it makes on time and space and takes you away from the conventional roles of wife and mother – so how did you cope with this contradiction?
It may sound clichéd, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that I have ‘lived’ theatre from the minute I took it up. I have remained single and I am so devoted to my passion and committed to painting, that there were times when I forgot the basic needs of food and sleep and this took a heavy toll on my health. In 1994, I was teaching art in the mornings, directing and rehearsing for Jisne Lahore Nahin Dekha in the evenings, and painting for my exhibition at night. But I loved doing all this because I am a workaholic. Finally, it was my ailing mother who came to live with me, who forced me to take breaks between work schedules to take care of her. Yes, it has been tough being a woman and that too, a Punjabi woman taking to theatre. I used to get solid roles but in the beginning, it was more for my looks than for my acting. But it paid in the end.
Is theatre a viable profession today than it was earlier? In other words, can theatre be a full time occupation today in India?
The answer is no, no and no. It never was, and I do not think it ever will be a financially viable profession for anyone involved in theatre in India. Of course, the scenario differs for those who are well connected and can manage grants regularly, but not for all of us. We are fully aware that theatre is surviving because of the people who work elsewhere for bread and butter and do theatre because they love it and are passionate about it.
Which play among your entire repertoire would you choose as your personal favourites and why?
Topping the list is Buhe Barian which was my solo performance in Punjabi. It was scripted from four short stories of four famous Punjabi writers Amrita Pritam, Ajit Kaur, Kartar Singh Duggal and Veena Verma. The stories presented microcosms of women from different strata in society. It was a challenging task and I grew as an actress along with this play. It opened in 2003 and is still extremely popular among the audience. Over a hundred shows, I learnt more about the characters I was portraying and this impacted on my presentation every time. It is still tough to do this play because of the demands it makes on your body, energy and speech, and these are also the reasons why I find it so fulfilling.
Tell us something about your recent production Chanda Mama Door Ke.
It is a dialogue between a mother and her unborn child. A modern, educated and liberal woman, the protagonist of the play raises question about the rights of an unborn child. She starts talking to the child the day she conceives and continues to do so, treating her unborn child as an intelligent, equal, individual being who can both comprehend as well as respond to the range of social, political issues that are being discussed with it. As the play progresses so does the dialogue, gradually moving beyond the mother-child paradigm onto a new level of human understanding and communication. The child chooses not to be born in a world filled with strife, conflict, death and disaster. Since this is also a one-woman performance, I am both mother and child and other characters, and this is the challenge I meet each time I perform.
What about other memorable plays over the years you would like to mention?
I loved Mother Courage directed by M. K. Raina in which I played the mother. The role of Mallika in Ashadh Ka Ek Din is every actress’s dream role and it has been no different for me. After I founded my own theatre group Rangtoli, the first play we performed remains one of my favourites. It was called Abhisarika. I directed this play besides acting in it and during the rehearsals, M.K. Raina spotted me and cast me in a telefilm based on Bertolt Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle.
I would like you to mention the names of leading women in Indian theatre whose work has truly impressed you and who you think have taken the movement towards socially relevant theatre forward and why?
Many women are doing very good work consistently. Among them are Neelam Mansingh Chaudhary in Chandigarh, Maya Rao is doing a very different kind of work, Usha Ganguly is running a big group in Kolkata and then there are Anuradha Kapoor, Kirti Jain, Amal Allana and so on. But on a personal note, I must confess that I do not idealise any of them. I choose to be my own person.
Let us hear about your group Rangtoli.
Rangtoli was founded with the aim of promoting the taste and flavour of theatre in a city like Chandigarh that has reveled more in culinary delights than in theatre. I think, with our plays under the Rangtoli banner, we have been able to make a dent in the mindsets of the people of this city. We have staged productions like Gargi’s Abhisarika, Ibsen’s Doll’s House, Ajay Shukla’s Doosra Adhyay, Safdar Hashmi’s Aurat, Gurcharan Das’s Larens Saheb and Nine Jakhoo Hill, Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden, Rani’s Cleopatra and Buhe Barian. Chanda Mama Door Ke is our latest production.
What is the basic difference between professional theatre, group theatre and individual performances?
Theatre is a group activity. Even a solo act is a team effort because the solo actor needs a basic script to work from, a group comprised of a costume designer, an art director, a music director, musicians, light men, sound people and so on, so there is nothing like individual performance in theatre. Professional theatre is basically one that is self-reliant. For instance, it has its own performing space, space for rehearsals, money to pay the cast and crew, guaranteed audience and so on. Fortunately, theatre friendly audience is on the rise in the country and therefore, one hopes professional theatre keeps going. The term ‘group’ theatre is generally applied to a group that is committed to a particular kind of performance within theatre or has a social agenda or both. Proscenium is not the last work for group theatre people and they are trained and prepared to perform anywhere – on proscenium stage, in the open, in gardens, fields, schools, chaurahas and so on. They are loosely structured because they are not economically viable.