I always wanted to be a part of the theatre. The challenge and thrill of playing in front of live audience is an altogether different feeling. It’s difficult to explain that feeling, best to experience it yourself! Finally, when I was in my third year of LL.B, I got an opportunity to be a part of the professional theatre. Thanks to my dearest friend, Sharmi. :) She took me along with her and introduced me to the director of the play and to my fortune, they were in dire need of an actor for a role which was quite an important part of the play and when I went there, they accepted me right away! So, I didn’t even have to audition for the role! Now, that’s called luck! ;) It was a show mainly for kids between the age of 6 and 15. I was not very keen on doing a show for kids. Whenever I used to imagine myself playing in a show, it would be a Classic. But here I was in a totally different play! But, I didn’t mind coz finally I had got an opportunity to realize that dream which was the closest to my heart! So, I didn’t even give it a second thought and accepted the role and started the rehearsal on that day itself!! This show was a production of the esteemed Ranga Shankara Team!
I was offered the role of Amma in the play! I was supposed to play the role of a working mom who has 2 kids of 9 and 7 years respectively! But the funniest part was not that! My kids in the show were elder to me by atleast 5 years in real life!! And I had to look at them like cute li’l ones and scold them and show affection to them like a mom! In the beginning I found it utterly hilarious, but then I got used to it and got comfortable. :) Though, I have never been a mom, I had to put myself in that shoes and act like any mother who would take care of her kids. Now, that was quite a challenge but I loved it all the same! The rehearsals took place everyday, for a month and in each rehearsal I learnt something new about Acting and Theatre in general. It was a wonderful and vibrant experience! :) My director was very supportive though she would lose her temper at times. (But that is how every director is.. isn’t it! ;) ) And my Team was The Best!! So easy to get along and so much fun to be with! Since I was the youngest and the least experienced of the lot, I would get all the love and pampering! That was my favourite part!!
Finally, the dates of the shows were fixed and we had 3 shows per day for a week! And I had to perform in every show! For every other role there was a standby, but for mine, It was only me! They had just started training on a new Amma, but they were concentrating more on me as I was supposed to perform in all the shows. When everything was going on so well, when the shows were just one week away, I met with a serious accident and fractured my left wrist! :( The doctor put a cast on my hand and advised rest for 6 weeks!! I was so disappointed when this happened that I cursed every damn thing that I came across! But strangely, I was disappointed for the show and not for myself! If things had gone on perfectly, I would be doing my debut as an Actor!! But, I wasn’t feeling anything personally.. All I felt for was the show as a whole and worried as to how it would go on! But luckily as they had started training my standby, there weren’t any hitches and the show went well! :)
When I again got the chance to play that role, it was a year after my accident! I had waited too long and this time I wasn’t going to let anything come in my way and was focussed on performing in the show. And, things finally fell in place and that day came when I went on stage and performed!!!
But what happened just before the show started is something worth a narration and here starts the story!! ;)
The show was at 7 in the evening and the team was supposed to be present at the Theatre in the morning itself. We all gathered at that time and started setting up the stage. Setting up the stage was quite a task in itself. We had to arrange every prop in sync with the lighting arrangements. Every bit of it had to be taken care of. We had to shift the props thrice to finally arrange it according to the lighting system and when we were finally done, only we could know how happy we were!! Since I was an amateur, I didn’t understand the need for being so strict about placing even a small insignificant prop like a newspaper in the right manner. But when looked at the set from the point of view of an audience, the difference would look huge and for a show to become a hit, even the smallest of things have to be taken care of! So, it was a tremendous task which we finished FINALLY!! By the time we were done with the stage, it was already 4:30 in the evening, and it was only 2 and a half hours before the show started! But still the work wasn’t over! We had to do one final rehearsal for the sake of light and sound cues. That went on for nearly two hours and when we finished everything, it was 6:30!! We ONLY had half an hour to put on our costume and make up!! And in Ranga Shankara, they follow the schedule very strictly. If on the ticket, it says 7:00 PM as the show time, the show will start at 7:00 PM irrespective of whether the cast is ready or not!! I was freaking out like a crazy person and we had to run to the green rooms to get ready and since the whole team had performed in this play for more than 50 times, everyone got ready in no time, except for me, the amateur!! :-/ The good thing was my entry was not before fifteen minutes after the show started. So, the director didn’t scold me or anything! Finally I was ready by 6:50 PM and we all gathered in a circle and chanted the shlokas and had our huddle! The energy was electrifying!! And since it was my debut, everyone came to me and assured me I will be fine and gave the encouraging smiles, hugs and pats. That’s when it set in that it was my debut and I STARTED FREAKING OUT!!!! I started shivering and my heart started beating so fast that the person standing next to me could actually hear it!! (No exaggeration!!) I started getting all stupid pictures in my head, where I would fall on the stage while walking, forget my lines and stand still and many more crazy thoughts which I tried very hard not to haunt me and started focussing on the scene. When My Entry was 2 dialogues away, My legs started shaking and I wasn’t sure if they would carry me forward!! But luckily, they obliged my frantic requests and I entered in time and delivered My First Dialogue!!! That feeling was Just Out-Of-The-World!!
There were 200 people watching me perform in a world class theatre, as part of a reputed theatre fest! My dream had finally materialized… I felt like freezing that moment! But then, I had to bring myself out of the reverie and start doing my job! The show went on without any embarrassing moments.. None of the crazy pictures that had paraded in front of my mind’s eye, just before I entered the stage, came true! :D Although, there was a scene in the play where I had to lend a candle to my neighbour. I finished my dialogue and went to the kitchen (the make-believe kitchen) to fetch the candle and saw that there was No candle!! I searched frantically everywhere and couldn’t find it and I had to call my “7 year old daughter” to help me find it.. she had no dialogue or movements in that scene but she came in to help me out, and she was also unsuccessful! What to do now?!?!?! The next dialogue heavily concentrated on that candle! And it wasn’t any school-play to just pass an imaginary candle! I had to give a real one! I thought my director would kill me after the show.. but luckily, I found a Torch!! And at the same time, My husband called out to me to give the candle and I gave the torch and added a line which was not in the script! I said, “ This was all I could find, there is no candle at home” for which, even he had to alter his dialogue!! Oh god.. that was a hell of a situation there.. but it went without any incident and the scene successfully ended!! :D
Rest of the play went amazingly well and we had a wonderful audience that evening. They gave the right reactions at the right time and the show was a HIT!!! At the end, there was a scene where the villain waters a tree. When that scene started, a little gal from the audience came up on the stage and lent her water bottle!!! The whole auditorium, including the actors on stage went.. “Awwww!!!” That just showed the involvement of the audience in the play and I felt so so satisfied with my performance and the performance of the whole team that I felt like punching my fist in the air! But.. I was Amma! I shouldn’t act like a kid, but like a kid’s mom! So, I had to contain my emotion and excitement and wait till the show was over!
We got a resounding applause once the show was over and when we went down to meet the audience, EVERY single person who watched us perform came up to us and congratulated!! Since it was a show which portrayed the day-to-day lives of a typical nuclear family, everyone in the audience could connect with the scenes, the kids’ activities, the little funny fights between the husband and wife etc.. That day, I realized the joy of materializing a dream.... and it was ecstatic!! :) :) :)
And the most special thing that happened that day was, Arundhati Nag watched me perform!! She was sitting in the last row and since all the lights were focussed on the stage, I came to know about her presence only at the end when she came up to the stage to announce about the success of this show! ! (And, I couldn’t believe I performed in front of her!!!) Later, when my director introduced me to her, she appreciated my performance and was shocked when I said it was my debut as she felt my acting was very “natural”!! That day is one of those days which is very very close to my heart and which will ALWAYS bring a smile on my face! :)
