Chaibasa, April 13: They practise the same craft, but their approach, ideals and politics are different.
Anjan Srivastava of Wagle Ki Duniya fame and Probir Guha, the guru of Alternative Living Theatre (ALT), are both in the state to take part in the state-level conference of the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA).
While the former gave the amiable, adorable and eternally harassed middle-class man to the masses through his portrayal of Wagle, the latter is the firebrand theatre activist, who fights the cause of the common man through his alternative theatre.
But while talking to The Telegraph both acknowledged the role of theatre as a medium for awareness through entertainment.
Srivastava, who is a senior council member and the vice president of IPTA’s Mumbai chapter, was in Chaibasa today.
There, he assured the local theatre bodies of all necessary support to keep the tradition of theatre alive in the state. “I have agreed to do stage shows on IPTA’s behalf, so that local groups can earn the necessary money through the shows,” said Srivastava, who does not have any qualms in admitting that his celebrity status would surely be the sole crowd-puller for these shows.
For the time being, Srivastava has, however, agreed to do only mono-act plays based on the works of masters like Munshi Prem Chand.
“Today, theatre all over the country needs money. And unless stars come forward, it would be difficult to retain it in the days to come. Moreover, there is an urgent need to bring the elites back to the hall,” added Srivastava.
The artiste also spoke of his upcoming projects — both in films and serials. “The very reason I accepted to work in a serial (Virudhh) after a long time was because the script is written by Kamal Pandey, who also wrote Rang de Basanti. The treatment of the show is totally different from the run-of-the-mill family dramas these days.”
“My next release would be Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Halla Bol starring Ajay Devgan and Pankaj Kapoor. After that it would be Shimit Amin’s Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Chak De India produced by Yash Raj Films,” said the ace actor.
His third release would be an offbeat Bengali film Ekti Nodir Naam, directed by ad-man Sameer Chanda and starring Mithun Chakravarty, in a rare performance.
Over 200 artistes from all over the state took part in a rally in support of theatre.
On Friday morning, Srivastava also inaugurated a special exhibition dedicated to the former IPTA members — Balraj Sahani and Prithviraj Kapoor.
Amid the huge placards that read out names such as Kaifi Azmi and Balraj Sahani today there was one face that made every visitor sit up and take notice.
Dressed in a spotless white kurta-pyjama, Probir Guha, founder of Alternative Living Theatre (ALT), was a forceful presence. Guha, who also formed the Unified Communist Party way back in 1962, and later joined CPM as an active leader, took time off to speak to The Telegraph.
“I have no background in theatre. With time, I got disillusioned with political practices and it was sometimes in the late sixties that I drifted towards theatre. It was in 1977 that I formed Alternative Living theatre,” said Guha.
ALT rejects conventional form of drama and embraces traditional forms of theatre. It also practices with various traditional forms to create its own language.
“Alternative Living Theatre likes to compel its audience to confront the actual problem. The plays consistently attack communalism, oppressive social conventions, superstitions and political apathy,” added Guha, a contemporary of Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Shabana Azmi.
In the city for the first time, Guha presented his latest production Tritiya Yudh here.
But having said that, Guha also maintains a strong Jharkhand connection.
Over 50 NGOs working in both urban and rural belts of Jharkhand have received training from ALT for short plays and street theatres.
