Hari Mittal, technical consultant for Manish Metal Limited, is a man of many parts. Picture by Uma Shankar Dubey

The arclights and the stage transport him to a world of fantasy, which fires his imagination. Hari Mittal, vice-president of Jamshedpur Theatre Association and technical consultant for Manish Metal Limited, has found a home away from home in his theatre ventures.

An M. Tech from the University of California and also erstwhile green card holder, Mittal’s first love is indisputably theatre. From clamouring for a role in school plays to donning the director’s hat, Mittal has come a long way.

His romance with a discerning audience dates back to the mid-seventies, when after returning from the US, Mittal, along with like-minded amateur artistes set up a drama group, Abhisarika. And there has been no looking back ever since. “While many liked to hang out in clubs and cinemas, I preferred to spend my evenings at rehearsals, preparing to treat theatre-lovers of the city. After a hard day’s work, theatre was one thing which completely rejuvenated me,” Mittal reveals.

After acting in as many as 50 plays and directing many more, he has realised his true potential. “I am more of an actor than a director. The thrill of portraying a character and emoting his true feelings give me immense pleasure. It is the actor’s prerogative to live the lives of the characters and experience a whole range of emotions,” he explains. However, he feels directing is more of leading a group of creative people and endeavouring to get the most out of them. “I believe in giving my actors their space so that they can give vent to their creativity,” he opines.

It was right from his early years at school that Mittal discovered his leanings towards the performing arts and is still exploring the actor in him. In his formative years Ram Leela performers left an indelible impression on his young mind.

“Perhaps the performances ignited my mind and imbibed in me the zeal to pursue acting,” he says.

Mittal derives pleasure from creative pursuits. “Theatre gives me more pleasure than money ever can. Glossing through scripts and basking in the aura of roles is my idea of ultimate of satisfaction,” reveals the theatre freak. “Creative hobbies help a person grow. They help you during your lean patches and prop you up when you are feeling low. I was told by many that I was wasting time. They said an industrialist should not spend time in such pursuits but I did not budge,” he recounts.

Picking up appealing scripts for his plays and continuously working on them, Mittal seems too engrossed in his realm of histrionics. “I love contemporary Marathi plays as they revolve around the intricacies and complications of human relationships,” he adds. Most of Mittal’s award-winning plays like Andha Yug, Ashad Ka Ek Din, Ek Aur Dronacharya and Sandhya Chhaya, dwelled on unique human equations and feelings.

Mittal’s uncanny knack for understanding human behaviour and ability to reproduce them on stage perhaps can be traced to his love for reading.

An avid reader of plays with mythological backgrounds in the contemporary context, Mittal’s most prized possessions comprise three volumes of Vivekananda’s Todo Kara Todo, the adapted version of Ramayana Ramkatha and Narendra Kohli’s representation of Mahabharatha in the present context.

Mittal’s creative genius also shows on the canvas, as he dabbles with colours as well. Though he hasn’t acquired any professional training in either acting or painting, Mittal’s instinctive talents have made him explore them on his own and today he can boast of being able to train others in the field.

Sweta Dutta