Kumud Mishra, known for roles in both commercial movies like Sultan and socially conscious films like Article 15, has carved a unique space in Hindi cinema. During a recent chat, the actor spoke to us about the changing landscape of Indian cinema and the responsibility of artistes today.

When asked about the rise of socially driven films and what drives this shift in storytelling, the Article 15 actor replied, “We are becoming insensitive as a society. We are becoming intolerant. We have stopped listening. We have stopped talking to each other. The space for dialogue is ending. Only the space for monologue is going on. One person will speak a soliloquy and the other will listen. In such times, it becomes the responsibility of art to create an environment where the issues we are ignoring, the issues we are normalizing, should not be normalized. In life, whenever anything is normalized, it will be dangerous.”

He added, “I think it is important to have discussions and debates on socially relevant issues. We have started talking about them, but today, when something happens, we often react by saying, ‘Yes, this happened, we got the information,’ and move on. It has stopped affecting us in the same way. Does an incident have to be more horrific for us to take notice? When the Nirbhaya case happened, there was a huge uproar. For a moment, it felt like society still cared. But over time, we normalised such incidents. That is dangerous. As artistes, I believe it is our responsibility to talk about and engage with such issues.”

Discussing the commercialization of theatre and offering perspective for young theatre actors, Kumud said, “The complaint about theatre people not earning has always been there and will remain, but that is not a problem. I think theatre is doing quite well, and the commercial aspect, I think if any medium is giving you money, then it is a very good thing, it is necessary. Along with that, what do you do with it? What do you do with success? That is your responsibility. If you become a slave to that success and you adopt that same formula, then that is unfortunate. But if you are taking that and giving something new to your art, to your medium, then it becomes an interesting thing.”

For young theatre actors specifically, his advice is simple yet powerful. “I don’t have any advice because every generation comes with its own new challenges and new directions and they are fully capable, much smarter than us. The only thing is you’ll have to read a lot, work hard and keep doing it.”