Satyadev Dubey exposed me to theatre in Mumbai: Sharmila

“He was a very dear friend of mine and exposed me to the various theatre sights in Mumbai,” Tagore said during the inauguration of NSD’s 14th theatre festival titled ‘Bharat Rang Mahotsav’.

Sharmila,65,who attained formal training in theatre early in her life and started her career as an actress with Satyajit Ray’s 1959 Bengali film ‘Apur Sansar’,said she missed the instant exhilaration of audience on stage when she joined films.

“I learnt basic theatrical skills from Children’s Little Theatre in Kolkata in my early life. I used to enjoy the direct interaction with audience but when I joined films those instant exhilaration of audience was missing. The instant reaction of the long and vibrant life of stage artiste was lost amidst the post production editing techniques,” Tagore said.

The ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’ actress,at the same time,feels there lies no difference between a stage artiste and film actor.

“Both theatre and acting have the ability to connect with the world of people which are majorly unknown to them. Both of them give an opportunity to enter into an intense interaction of performing arts,” she said.

The fortnight-long annual festival of National School of Drama,which is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore,will have a pan-Indian focus’ on the nobel laureate with 17 productions

The event opened with Ratan Thiyam’s new play ‘King of the Dark Chamber’.

“The Manipuri play was a symbolic one. It reflected Tagore’s philosophy and the relationship between an individual and the universe,” said Aman Allana,the chairperson of NSD.

This year,the theatre extravaganza,will also offer plays in some 26 languages including Tulu and Mizu and will see 2,500 artistes from the country and other parts of the world.