Journalism of Courage
Walking into the Bharat Natya Mandir,which has traditionally been a hotbed for Marathi theatre on a Saturday morning,we were not surprised to find a huge section of ethnically unidentifiable youngsters thronging the place for ‘Talim 2012’,a two-day theatre workshop. The workshop dealt with the finer nuances of play writing,acting and even directing,for budding theatre enthusiasts. Full of anticipation and enthusiasm,we took seat right in front,waiting for film-maker and television screenwriter Gajendra Ahire,well known for his 2007 biopic on Vasudev Balwant Phadke.
Armed with a bottle of water,a solitary chair in the centre of the stage and a mike,Ahire began his talk about scriptwriting. While he began with the topic of the basics of writing a play,confident of the knowledge of the audiences,which responded intelligently to questions put to them by him,he moved on to serious issues. Amongst others Ahire first asked the participants about their understanding of Marathi theatre and their viewpoints on presenting a story on a person like Hitler. Having gauged the general enthusiasm he also touched the issue of incorporating comedy along with social issues on stage.
Another participant was curious about the importance of adaptability to situations and sticking to one genre. There were some who were clouded about writing for joy or for money and the answer had the audience in splits,including us – ‘Both are important in their own senses. There are some who can do neither. At least doing one of the two right,is better.’ We drew new light through the fact that in theatre,the two roles of writing and direction are essentially essayed by a single person. It is only when a writer is unable to create the visuals that a director stepped in and vice-versa. Towards the end of the session,we were given the mantra of being a good writer – writing constantly and incorporating all experiences.
