NSD’s former Chairperson Amal AllanA chats with Utpal K Banerjee about the book she edited called The Act of Becoming–Actor’s Talk. It is about 22 actors who worked between 1880 to 1980
Where does an actor stand in the make-believe world of theatre, while emoting under the arc-lights of the prosceniumIJ Filmmaker Govind Nihalani, who cherishes a huge fondness for theatre, has the answer.
Recently unveiling the outgoing NSD Chairperson Amal Allana’s edited tome, The Act of Becoming – Actors Talk, Nihalani opined, “In the world of dramatic arts, there is, on one end–the text which defines the scope. At the other is the director’s vision, as Satyadev Dubey called it.
“In between comes the actor, who offers a ‘gestalt’ before his spectators. He (or she) not only enlivens the text and vision, but projects and personifies the self, so it extends beyond norms.”
Nihalani provided an illustration, “In my film Ardha Satya, I wanted to end with a meaningful gesture, but didn’t have a clue abut what it should be. Om Puri, a product of NSD, is a gifted actor who is trained to easily bring his emotions to the fore. “My advice to him, was to read the text and remain neutral during rehearsals. He was only to emote when facing the camera.
“Smita Patil, on the contrary, was an untrained actor with sound instincts. In the last, scene, Puri raised his emotions to a pitch, and Smita instinctively responded by extending her arm towards him, without actually touching. This would have been too condescending. And so I had my film’s final gesture…”
With two full terms of eight years at NSD’s helm and 60 theatre productions under her belt, Allana researched her book over a decade: to consolidate views on Indian theatre and its background.
She reflected, “My book travels in time, from India’s struggle for Independence, through to the 1980’s. Armed with 300 photographs – some very rare – spanning 120 years, I tried to etch a century of theatre, its Indian interpretation and coming of age.
“My book also explores the complexities of women actors trying to gain acceptance in public life as professionals. These include Bengal’s Nati Binodini – set in the despised community of sex-workers – who were taught realistic acting through scientific methods by a redoubtable Girish Ghosh. And Karnataka’s R Nagarathnamma, who would only play male roles.”
Allana added, “Their counterpoint is Bal Gandharva, the idealised woman and Jaishankar Sundari, the eternal feminine. I also tried to shed light on the Indian encounter with theatre from the West that was absorbed rapidly from England, USA and Europe. “Their ‘interaction’ with Indian tradition, lays a foundation for the evolution of a national culture and identity, which soon comes into its own, with intensification of the freedom movement.”
What drew her to the subjectIJ Almost echoing Nihalani’s point, Allana responded, “A significant amount of new writing on theatre focuses on the contribution, mainly of directors and playwrights, towards contemporary theatre. To balance this, I was keen that actors – virtually being the expressive instruments and articulators of new formulations and thoughts in theatre – be focused upon. So we begin to assess and analyse actors and acting, in a manner which goes beyond simplistic. We should not just describe a performances as ‘good,’ ‘bad’, ‘strong’ or ‘weak’. We need the grammar and vocabulary. to talk about or write about it. This is very complex art…”
How did she seek to achieve her aimIJ “By acknowledging that parameters of judging acting are constantly evolving. And the role and space which an actor occupies, is pivotal to our sense of self. “Through their performance, actors ‘reflect’ society accurately, and are, in turn, role-models: who are emulated. So they hold the potential of being able to alter centuries-old mindsets and behavioural patterns which we blindly tend to repeat,” responded Allana.
In a sneak pre-view of the book (not yet available to public), one is immediately struck by the care for editorial process has been carried out. The thespian Ebrahim Alkazi’s Preface has an incisive critique about an actor’s role and responsibility.
As for layout, Allana clarified, “I followed three tracks. First is the genre of autobiography, say, Amar Katha: Amar Abhinay Jiban, by Binodini Debi. OrShongeet O Obhinay by Utpal Dutt. The second comprises biographies – the largest segment by far – like Dnyaneshwar Nadkarni’s Balgasndharva and Marathi Theatre, or Deepa Ganesh’s Oh Man, What a Woman!, which is a Hindi play about Nagarathnamma. The third segment is the interview, like, that of the centenarian Zohra Sehgal. One is also overawed by pictures. For instance, Girish Ghosh’s portraiture of nine emotional states —fright, disgust, elation, deliberation, infatuation, enraptured, curiosity and joyous sympathy — no less evocative than a classical dancer’s depiction of naba rasa, following Bharata’s Natya Shastra.