Cast in the same mould

N Neha: The audience here is very. In Delhi, there are not many theatre groups. It is a very different society 8212; much more superficial.

Q: This may be a big city, but it has a small social circle. And that8217;s not good for theatre 8212; you have thesame people coming to watch plays. There is no variety or growth in terms of the audience.

N: But there is still more variety in the kinds of plays produced. I have been away three-and-a-half years but I don8217;t remember seeing as much variety in Delhi. So much happens here and all kinds of plays attract an audience.

Q: Every city is different. Bangalore has a different pulse 8212; writing is of utmost importance. Their writing may be strong but the actual execution is often weak. Here, even directors have great ideas but often they are badly executed. Take the recent production of Man of La Mancha, it had some great ideas but was badly done. It is a shade better than elsewhere, but that8217;s not saying much.

N: I think performance is what makes a difference.

Q: There is an over-emphasis on production here. I like to make things simple. In The Night8230;, for instance, I am letting the text speak for itself. Performance is important too. If you have a cast of 10, atleast eight have to be good actors.

N: Yes, so if eight are good, then they will hold the play together even if the production values are not up to the mark.

Q: I believe in the team 8212; it is what will make the play work. They have all given 110 per cent. For instance, you have given up other projects just for this play.

N: Theatre is much more exciting for me. Ad-films and television come second to theatre which gives me a totally different thrill.

Q: I do not like television 8212; the only good work it does is providing work to unemployed theatre actors. But even they are made to bow down to conventional stereotypes and bad productions.

N: For me, acting is just a hobby. I want to carry on with my education in psychology. Within the next two years I would like to go abroad for further studies. But whatever I do, I8217;ll always want to do theatre.

Q: I am not so sure about what I want to do. Whatever it is, I want to have enough time to do theatre. Money is notan issue. Probably something in entertainment industry like quot;event managementquot;, where I can apply my skills learnt from theatre to a more lucrative venture.

N: I agree, money is not an issue.

Q: It does bug me though, that who you know makes such a difference. There are so many good actors waiting in the wings because they don8217;t have the right contacts. Would I be interviewed if it wasn8217;t for my parentage? And yet I know that there are far better actors within my team itself, who go without a mention. Therefore I8217;d like to name just a few rising stars 8212; Nadir Khan, Arghya Lahiri, Yuki Elias, Christopher Samuel and Arvind Sivakumaran.

N: That8217;s just in theatre.

Q: The contact system eats at everything.

N: At times I feel being a known person8217;s daughter has made it easier.

Q: But you still have to be good to make it. My system, which is almost socialist, is very different from my father8217;s. Even though I have worked with my father I do not always agree withhim. We are two very different and separate entities.

N: I get offers for television assignments from people who have worked with my mom. But after that I am on my own. I have to prove myself as an actress.

Q: As a country, though, we have no expectations. Shoddy work is easily accepted, especially on television.

N: That8217;s because they know they can get away with it.

Q: There are no more theatre critics, just previews. If someone spends a crore on the set, then it must be good. Remember The Legend of Ram? Of all the stuff I have seen recently, I only enjoyed Art, that too because of Sohrab more than the new-age set.

N: I really liked I am not Bajirao. There were two meaty roles with two good performances.

Q: Boman and Sudhir worked well together but again there was no attention to detail. The minor characters were ignored. Detailing is so important.

8211;Co-ordinated by Sujata Assomull