The stage is her world

8220;I call myself a sponge because I kept my senses open in order to learn more. I did not keep knocking for an opportunity but when the doors opened, I did not say no to the opportunities either. When I recollect the various phases of my life, I like myself as Vijaya Jaywant the most because as a young, energetic girl, I had the urge to take the best from everyone around me. I was thankfully surrounded by connoisseurs like Ebrahim Alkazi, Adi Marzban, Plitz Dinovit and so on and I learnt the best from them all,8221; says Mehta.

While the opinions of these personalities helped her in developing an approach, what sets Mehta apart is the independent philosophy that she preached through her organisation Rangayan and other theatrical ventures. In Mehta8217;s own words, 8220;A good theatre personality can be judged by three aspects. He or she should not be a speaker but a teller, not a hearer but a listener and lastly not a viewer but a watcher. Talking about drama, what is important according to me is the concept and theme of the play and not the script. Plays based on scripts are more like clothes tailormade to suit the audiences8217; needs. I tried to do a couple of them and realised that it is not my style of working.8221;

With a number of commercial, theme-based plays like Barister, Purush, Hameedabaichi kothadi, Wada Chirebandi and multi lingual plays like Shakuntal, Nagmandal and Mudra Rakshas to her credit, Mehta adds, 8220;Theatre does not have a language. You won8217;t believe but I got a better understanding of Sanskrit theatre in Germany.8221; Explaining theatre with an example Mehta elaborates, 8220;Theatre is like rangoli. It is for the moment. Drama takes shape through an amalgamation of performers and audience. And the way a rangoli is wiped after the auspicious day, drama also is because what comes out the next day is a different amalgamation again.8221;

Known for creating names in the film industry like Neena Gupta, Vikram Gokhale, Nana Patekar and so on , Mehta8217;s entry into cinema compared to her theatrical stint was quite late. She explains, 8220;I entered late because I realised it quite late after watching films of people like Shyam Benegal that portrayal of similar expressions is possible through films as a medium as well.8221;

Commenting on the current scenario in Marathi theatre Mehta feels, 8220;The most important aspect in theatre is dedication. Theatre is not possible without time and unfortunately no one has time today. I must say that there is potential even today. Give me artistes and time and I will bring back the lost glory.8221; On a concluding note she says, 8220;Today, when I look at the years gone by, I feel that other than theatre, I do not have an independent existence. There are good memories and bad memories but thankfully the ones that surround me and keep me going are the ones that are good.8221;