It is after a gap of five years that the audience is getting to watch Manav Kaul on stage in the play Traasadi, which is also written and directed by him. The actor, who is also a published author with 13 books, shares that he is enjoying theatre a lot more now.
Excerpts from the interview:
What is your new play Traasadi about and how did you think of doing it?
I was in London a few years ago where I saw actor Andrew Scott do a solo performance of a short story called Sea Wall. He came on stage and started narrating a story which went on for 45 minutes and that was it. It was just storytelling and it was in my head from then on. Lately, I have also been watching a lot of stand-up comedies and solo plays. I realised that everyone who goes on stage, their first instinct is that they want the audience to laugh. I find a higher form of entertainment is when I’m reading a book and crying for someone else’s story which has no bearing on my life. I thought of doing an absolutely tragic story which is heartwarming and relatable.
While going through my stories, I came across a short story called Ma which is part of my book Theek Tumhare Peeche. I started rewriting the entire story because it had to be in the form of a play. It started taking shape during the rehearsals and we did the first few performances in Mumbai before taking it to Delhi, Chandigarh and Shimla. We are bringing it back to Mumbai now.
Which themes does the play address?
It deals with a lot of themes. Firstly, it deals with the death of a mother, something you are never prepared for. It’s also about the betrayal of a son who cannot comprehend how his free-spirited mother can find love and companionship again in her life. There are ideas about how a man sees the world and how a woman’s world is. It is about how much we understand as men, how we take our freedom for granted and how little space we give, especially to our mothers.
The last time you performed on stage was for Chuhal five years ago…
Yes, I was scared initially wondering if I could pull off such a long play on my own. However, I am involved with so many things including writing that I don’t give too much importance to one thing. I just want to go up on stage and enjoy what I am doing. I have to say things which I really want to say. Thankfully, because I have written the story, I can keep changing it around while I am performing. Now, I am excited to go in front of the audience and share this story.
It is 20 years to your theatre group Aranya. In that time, you have also acted in many films and shows, as well as written so many books. How much time are you able to commit to theatre now?
I am enjoying theatre more now. I was watching an interview of director Orson Welles where he said that the one thing he regrets is not doing theatre enough because he moved to the movies. He is one of the greatest directors and for him to say that is huge. I realised very late in my life that I have that freedom to go on stage and create and do what I want. It is a privilege and I am not using it properly. I need to do more theatre. I need to write more books. I do a limited number of films and shows but I have everything to live a creatively satisfying life.
Your 13th book Katrane was published recently. Can you tell us about that and is there another book in the pipeline?
I was writing a novel but I wanted to write one more draft of it. I told my publisher that I need to go to the mountains in order to finish it and so I came to Sonja, near Kullu district. I have finished it now and hopefully, that will be the next one to get published. In the meantime, Katrane was ready and so we released that first. Katrane is part of my series ‘na kahani na kavita’ (neither story, nor poem). These are random thoughts about varied topics. Sometimes a story is one page long, sometimes it is not even a story but I am speaking directly to the reader. These are very raw emotions.
The two loves of your life – writing and travelling - seem to go hand in hand for you. What is it about travelling that inspires you to write?
I live a fairly secluded life in Mumbai but here the mind is preoccupied. I can only manage a few hours in the early morning. When I am travelling, the visuals change, the air changes and you find that you have nothing else to do but read or write. I also manage to attract and meet the most interesting people when I am travelling. When you are travelling alone, you give so much space to people to come and talk to you. When you’re alone, your eyes are welcoming because you want to talk to people.
The last time we saw you on screen was in last year’s film Trial Period. What’s up next?
I have acted in a series called Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper which will release on Netflix on July 18.
