Shekhar Sens career has followed the trajectory of a disillusioned soul that has eventually found peace in spirituality. He came to Mumbai in 1979 from Raipur with the dreams of becoming a music composer. After years of struggle,he finally sought his own path. I realised that,even if I gave my best to being a music composer,there were numerous factors and departments that were beyond my control, says Sen,who is today a theatre actor,director and musician all rolled into one. He writes and directs plays based on medieval poets and philosophers. In them,he sings and plays the key roles. His latest play Soordas premiered on Friday at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA),Mumbai. It is going to be followed by a string of performances in the city including ISKCON,Juhu,on Sunday and Veer Savarkar,Dadar on June 22. Sens life took a new direction when he,while trying to move on after Bollywood,found resonance in the poetry of Tulsidas,Kabir and other medieval poets. He got attracted to the charm of Awadhi,Maithili and Brijwasi and the profundity of their messages. He began composing devotional songs around the literature,presenting research oriented musical programmes. He gradually found an audience in India and abroad. In a life-altering trip to the US with his ageing parents,he saw a Chinese national reciting Tulsidas Ramayana. It made me think of how many of us,back in India actually know Tulsidas well? he says. Upon his arrival to India,he wrote a rough draft on the life of Tulsidas,which he turned into a play. The characters choose me,I dont choose whom I should play next, says the 51-year-old. He wanted to play the character of Buddha,but realised it wasnt meant to be done by him,and moved in to play Soordas. In the plays publicity stills,he wears saffron,with eyes drooped to the extent that he appears blind. In between,Sen has played Kabir and Vivekananda too. For Sen,whose grew up with musicologist parents,the idea of a mono-act musical play appeared truest to its original form. If you see the Natya Shastra or Bauls,they are all single-act plays,where performers act and sing, he says. Also,the immediacy with which one has to switch between dialogues and songs,can be best done by one actor. sankhayan.ghosh@expressindia.com
