Actor and activist Shabana Azmi has her priorities sorted. A plum film project with a director whom she has always admired will not propel her to pull the plug on theatre.
“Everybody around me would root for that big film, saying that theatre dates can always be adjusted and that I was being silly to give up such a big project. But I didn’t go down that road. And I have no regrets,” said Azmi, who has mastered the art of balancing cinema and theatre for decades.
This weekend, she will channel her love for the stage by bringing her play Happy Birthday Sunita to Centrepoint at Ductac from November 27 to 29. “It’s a comedy with a universal message,” said Azmi in an interview with tabloid!. The play, written by Harvey Virdi and directed by Pravesh Kumar, is a farcical comedy that explores truths about family ties, loyalty and personal freedom set against the backdrop of a dysfunctional British-Asian Punjabi family in the UK. Azmi plays the matriarch Tejpal Johal.
“But the pressure of meeting expectations of the society is a universal phenomenon. So, the play’s appeal is not just limited to Indians,” said Azmi, who has been a force to reckon with in Indian cinema since the early 1970s. Her rich catalogue of films includes a good mix of Bollywood blockbusters such as Honeymoon Travels and independent films such as Arth, in which she played a housewife in search of her identity, and Mandi in which she played a ruthless, beetle-chewing brothel owner. But she believes the best is yet to come.
“It’s a great time to be in Indian cinema today. Today, even our mainstream actors are demanding much more of themselves. If you see earlier, no demand was made on the actors except to be a hero or a star. Now from getting their body right to getting their hairstyle right to internalising their characters, both male and female actors are demanding more of themselves. It’s a good sign.”
tabloid! talks to Azmi about her play, criticism and about cinema being the glitzier cousin to theatre.
Why should we watch ‘Happy Birthday Sunita’?
We have staged this play around 37 times and it has enjoyed a phenomenal response. It’s a comedy with a universal message. It begins by introducing you to a British-Asian Punjabi family who come together to celebrate the 40th birthday of my daughter. Sunita is unmarried and lives with her mother. I play the mother, Tejpal Johal. As the play progresses, you start realising that everyone in the house is wearing a mask. At one juncture, the mother announces that she’s done with playing the role of a dutiful person who looks after the dreams of her children, her home, etc. She wants to follow her dream. I can’t reveal what the dream is because I would be giving away a crucial part of the play. Everyone is shocked since they have not seen her in any other way than as a mother. They protest at her turnaround but the mother sticks to her guns. She tells them that each should face life for what it is and stop all the acting. That is the message. It is a comedy and within that comedy, the message is so humane and heartwarming. Women of all ages came up to me, they don’t know if they were crying or laughing as they hugged me. I was so deeply moved. It is a lovely play and that is the reason why you should watch it. The ensemble cast is very good.
Recently, you had tweeted that theatre is a different ball game altogether, how so?
I was away from the film fraternity since August. I was living on my own, staying in a two-bedroom apartment, cooking my own food and doing things that I normally don’t do. I was on my own, going for rehearsals from 9am to 6pm and living the quintessential ‘theatre experience’. But when the medium is theatre and you are performing in front of a live audience, you can never take anything for granted. No matter, how many shows you do, something can always slip. So, the question is how do you cover up for it? Also, the gratification of an immediate response is what theatre bestows you with. It requires you to focus your attention entirely on the play and doesn’t let your mind wander. This is not to say that cinema is any less challenging. In theatre, you can get away with many things. In cinema, actors have the advantage of re-takes, but imagine a 75mm close-up, you can’t simply fake it. You can’t lie because you will be invariably caught since the camera is so close to your face. The best way forward is to do a combination of theatre and cinema. So, you have people like Ralph Fiennes and actors of that calibre who come to England and work for £500 a week because they enjoy the theatrical experience.
What do you have to say to all those who claim theatre is the poorer cousin of cinema?
No, it’s not. The term is wrong. Theatre is an actor’s medium, television is a writer’s medium and film is a director’s medium. In films, collaborative effort counts. As an actor, you may be giving your best shot but the way the cameras are placed, it may not even capture that shot. Or despite you giving a wonderful shot, the film’s editor may decide to cut that scene. But in theatre, the director can give you any number of instructions but ultimately it’s your instinct on stage that makes it all work. That is why theatre is an actor’s medium.
But don’t you think the Punjabi household is the most abused community in Bollywood ...
I don’t think it’s abused because Bollywood is entirely impartial when it comes to painting any community as stereotypical. There’s no discrimination in Bollywood. All communities are stereotyped, including its women, of course. I learnt Punjabi for this play. I consider that a part of my job. The brief given to me by the director was that I should never forget the genre of the play. In the second half of the play, I would be extremely emotional. He let me do the tears and the drill, but quietly explained the brief: the audience shouldn’t suddenly feel that from a comedy, it has become a drama. After I got that note, I completely changed my performance. What I like about director Pravesh Kumar is that at every point, he predicted the reaction of the audience. It’s almost like he had commissioned the audience to react in such a way. It was amazing.
Did you lose out on film projects due to theatre?
Last year, I gave up an extremely important international film. I can’t tell you which one, it had a good star cast along with a good director. But I had already committed to a tour of Broken Images with Alyque Padamsee. He had committed to 23 shows over the period of 45 days. Everybody would root for the big film, saying that theatre dates can always be adjusted but I didn’t go down that road. I didn’t even ask Padamsee if we could re-adjust [dates]. I just said no to the film project and I haven’t regretted it. I look at it as a commitment I made. In this particular case of Happy Birthday Sunita, I began shooting for Black Prince in Heathrow immediately after the play.
How do you handle criticism?
I don’t have to wait for anyone to criticise me. I am my worst critic. I take criticism seriously, especially from people whom I respect. I also listen to stray people. But if criticism is hurled at you with a hidden agenda to break you, then it’s a different matter altogether. But all actors become discerning enough along the way. I will never dismiss any criticism. I will process it and work on it, if it needs to be worked upon.
