Nothing rotten in the state of Denmark now

By Sukant Deepak

New Delhi, March 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) Twenty years ago: Evening. An apartment in Delhi's Kaka Nagar. A director, a playwright and actor Piyush Mishra. Between unfiltered cigarettes and steadily declining volume of Old Monk rum, he tells the playwright, "It made little sense to play the character you had given maximum dialogues to. Any good actor with a command over Hindi could have done that role. I chose the other because he didn't say anything most of the time. I wanted my gaze to speak, and be the loudest."

Everybody smiles. And there is more rum. There is also some talk of how all his shows of "An Evening With Piyush Mishra" are completely sold out, thanks to his women fans. Piyush suddenly wants to sing. A harmonium is arranged. The romantic and revolutionary (almost in equal number) songs he has penned for theatre go on deep into the night. He stops before dawn. Just as he set to leave on his Vespa, the theatre director whispers to the playwright, "Everybody knows Piyush is a genius. The only problem is, even he does."

Four years ago: " I was a very anxious man in those times. Tried the bottle too, but even that darn thing didn't help. I went to Mumbai at the age of 45, a time when people are counting their savings. There are too many regrets. But I am happy now. I know the revolution is not coming, I have apologised to everybody I hurt, more importantly to myself. Of course, I was an enigma, a man everybody desired. I know that. But I don't want anything to do with that guy anymore. And let us not talk about going back to theatre, even for a stray performance --- how much more do you want me to suffer?"

Present Day: There is news that actor Piyush Mishra will be bringing his play "Gagan Damama Bajyo", a musical that showcases the life story of one of India's most celebrated freedom fighters and revolutionaries, Bhagat Singh to the capital during the "15th Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards & Festival". Mishra says that though he had promised himself that he would never return to theatre, he just could not stay away from his roots.

"Look, I joined cinema for money and to look after my family. Maybe if I didn't have a wife and kids, I would have never bothered to appear on the screen. Now I have earned enough money to ensure that my family can live a decent life. Sometime back, I started getting a feeling of a peculiar incompleteness. I later realised that somewhere deep down, I was missing theatre..."

Mishra, a National School of Drama (NSD) pass-out, who wrote this play 25 years ago feels that though it has been directed by several directors, most of them missed to bring out certain nuances and complexities of the script. "It was first done by my yaar NK Sharma, who did a wonderful job. In the latest show, you will see I have tapped into several undiscovered facets of the play."

Stressing that the play remains relevant even today, the actor, who received critical acclaim for his acting in films like "Maqbool" (2003), "Gangs of Wasseypur" (2012), and as lyricist in "Black Friday" (2004 ), "Gulaal" (2009) "Gangs of Wasseypur", and "Husna" in MTV Coke Studio (2012), says, "Bhagat Singh was a visionary who could see much ahead. He had imagined the creation of an independent India. In many ways we all are still striving for a truly independent country. The play is politically and socially relevant because Bhagat Singh's true picture has never been presented in front of the people. It's sad that NCERT textbooks give such a limited knowledge and scope of the revolutionary. It's very important that every young person knows what a 23-year-old managed to achieve, something this play aims to do."

The actor, who recently formed his own independent music group 'Ballimaran', which presents a collage of his theatre songs, many of which were used in films later, came into existence after several of his friends insisted that he form a band.

"I used to sing these songs in private gatherings of friends. Everyone, especially Hitesh Soni, who programmed Gulal's music insisted that a band needs to be formed. I also realised that with orchestration, these songs will have another kind of magic. Slowly, we became a band of five, other handling instruments. This way, all my theatre songs which have a socio-political essence get exposure in front of a wide audience. In mehfils, only 20-25 people could get to hear them. The response has been exceptional. In fact, we are all set to perform abroad too. Yes, I know its tough for independent bands, but then what is easy in life?"

For someone who believes that he is "gifted, not talented", it is heartening to witness corporates coming forward to support theatre. He doesn't expect much from the government considering "it hasn't done anything in the past 80 years. It does promote other art forms, but when it comes to theatre, there seems to be a real step-motherly treatment." Mishra feels that corporates need to realise their responsibility towards the art form as they too are a part of the society.

"Also, it is a misconception that serious theatre does not attract a sizeable audience. What do these business houses want? Something that sells, right? Arre, our work does. Now, where is the problem?"

At this juncture, he does not want to talk much about his emotionally and financially taxing past.

"Now when I look back, I feel that had to happen too. Frankly, everyone goes through his own darkness, just that I am better-known, so those struggles tend to get underlined by the media. What saved me was my survival instinct. I never wanted to quit, no matter what. I was important for me to live, and on my own terms. Now, I don't think too much about it, the financial deprivation, the emotional angsts... it's all over now. You know, when I look back, strangely, everything looks ordinary."

Source: IANS