Sanskrita Bharadwaj, Titas Chowdhury and Naina Arora (HINDUSTAN TIMES; March 25, 2020)

With no new theatrical shows, open-mics or gigs due to the outbreak of Covid-19, life has been drastically different for people across the country. The performing arts have always suffered challenges, financially. And now, the Coronavirus scare has come as a severe blow to the entire industry, including artistes and technicians. Manav Kaul who was all set to stage Giving Up On Godot, a play directed by him at Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre, says, “It was a little heartbreaking that it didn’t happen. We had finished the final rehearsals, and just two days before we were about to go on stage, we came to know that the show has been postponed.”

Ask him about the loss of money and he explains, “A play won’t go waste and it’s here to stay. I’ve got a script, we’ve got actors and we’ll open it in November. The money put in is all mine and so it doesn’t matter. The staff involved in plays are being taken care of.”

Shikha Talsania, who has co-directed the play, wants to concentrate on the silver lining and hopes that the audience turnout will be more post the crisis. “Maybe, once this ends, we will get more audience, who will be bored of watching television and would look forward to watching a live performance,” she says.

Gujarati actor-director Pratik Gandhi, who is popular for his plays Mohan No Masalo and Hu Chandrakant Bakshi, believes that the coronavirus crisis is a “big blow” to the already struggling theatre industry but some “path breaking innovation” might come out of it. “With shows being cancelled, a lot of theatre people who are completely dependent on it are suffering a huge loss, too. But being an optimist, I want to believe that we’re all getting time to introspect,” he says.

Comedy gigs which are a regular in Mumbai and Delhi, have suffered a big blow as well. “All my shows were cancelled, including public, corporate, and private,” says stand-up comedian Rahul Dua (right), adding, “Quarantine can be boring. Even if all of this is over, it’ll take some time for people to be comfortable sharing an auditorium room with 300 people.”

Musicians, too, are bearing the brunt. Delhi-based singer Sonam Kalra, says, “This has been hard on the global economy. A lot of musicians including myself had shows that have got cancelled but I do believe it is necessary for now as it is better for us to be safe and responsible.”

Actor Sonali Kulkarni (below), who was supposed to travel to the US for a play, early this month, cancelled her travel plans. She says, “This is going to hit the industry for long term. All the technicians are going to face problems because we are shut.”

Stage actor and producer Denzil Smith (below) echoes similar thoughts. “Let’s assume that we are able to get out of this, even then people will not want to invest in the arts because many people would think about resurrecting their financial situations,” he explains, adding, “Perhaps, the art will see a resurgence and some mind blowing stuff will happen when we start over.”

Director Atul Satya Koushik whose shows were cancelled, says, “Even if normal services start opening by mid April, entertainment would be the last priority of the government as it’s not an essential commodity. I am telling my team that art is practised in isolation, and executed in public. So, the practise must continue, writers must write new scenes, and directors must revisit their shows and redesign them.”

However, theatre organisers are hopeful. Anasuya Vaidya, from Akshara Theatre, Delhi, says, “We’ve had to cancel and postpone a whole lot of shows. Classes and workshops are suspended as well. We are waiting to get back on stage.”

While Asmita Theatre Group is keeping the action alive on Facebook with a 10-day online theatre festival called the Quarantine Theatre Festival. Founder Arvind Gaur says, “Our live shows were affected so we thought of doing an online festival till March 31,” he says.

Puneet Issar's epic journey continues as he moves from the Mahabharat to reinterpreting the Ramayan through the eyes of its formidable antagonist
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 22, 2016)


Almost a year ago, Puneet Issar who is still remembered as Duryodhan from BR Chopra's tele epic Mahabharat, was surprised by a call from Rahul Bhuchar who ran a theatre group in Delhi and said he had something which might interest him. Intrigued, Puneet invited him over, and Rahul with writer-director Atul Satya Koushik, took the 6 am flight to Mumbai and turned up with the script of Raavan Ki Ramayan. The veteran actor had never been on stage before but was fascinated by this play written in verse which interpreted the Ramayan from the perspective of its antagonist. At 50-plus, Puneet believed he was at the right age to play Raavan who'd always tantalised him with his complexities.

"I'd been reading up on him but none of the writings had done justice to this wise man born from the union of a Brahmin and an asura. Most focussed on his laugh to portray him as evil. This play offered new insights into Raavan's life and character. I learnt that his 10 heads were a gift from Shiva after he kept cutting off his head and offering it to the Lord every time he got it back. He did it 10 times," he informs.

Puneet was motivated by Atul's two-and-half-hour play into reading the Vedas and Puranas which made him realise that Raavan was not just a great warrior but a yogi and a gyaani too who had been invited by Ram to the inauguration of the bridge at Rameshwaram that would take him to Lanka and Sita's rescue. "Everyone tried to dissuade Raavan but he insisted it was his duty as a Brahmin to go and perform the pooja which demanded the presence of Ram's ardhangini. When it was pointed out to him that Sita was in his captivity, he brought her down for the rituals, then took her back with him, telling Ram that he'd have to fight for her," says Puneet who has contributed to the script with his own inputs.

Language wasn't a problem as he'd been a diction teacher at Roshan Taneja's acting school, Sanjay Dutt and Sunny Deol batch mate who'd taught Urdu and Hindi. But it took him months to memorise his lines, knowing he couldn't change a word without disturbing the metre. He also needed to be at his fittest to play Raavan and over eight months lost 15 kgs through three hours of weight-training and an hour of cardio daily, followed by a run and martial arts. "My wife also put me on a high-protein, no carbs, no milk, no sugar, oil-free diet which has helped me build my muscles and look 20 years younger," he beams.

The play premiered in Delhi on August 6. Among the guests were LK Advani and his daughter, Pratibha, and though initially everyone grumbled over the length, once the curtains went up, they were hooked. Advani admitted at the end that he'd been left speechless. "We begin the Mumbai run from September 1 at Rang Sharda," Puneet informs.

Prod him on what makes Raavan different from Duryodhan and he reasons that the eldest of Kauravas was an angry, impulsive, obstinate boy of 25 who'd cut his nose to spite himself. Raavan, in contrast, was a wise man of 50 who faltered. "He's the biggest antagonist we know and to understand him one needed to go into his heart because every antagonist in his heart is a protagonist," Puneet says.

And what differentiates the Ramayan from the Mahabharat? "Ramayan teaches us what to do while the Mahabharat teaches us kya nahin karna chahiye. For me 1988 belonged to Duryodhan and 2016 is for Raavan," he signs off.