Satyadev exposed me to theatre in Mumbai: Sharmila

New Delhi: Calling herself as an ardent theatre lover, veteran actress Sharmila Tagore puts all the credit to late theatre legend Satyadev Dubey for her inclination towards the performing art.

“I am not an expert of theatre but I do have an affinity for it. There are a number of people who helped me in evolving as an actress and Satyadev Dubey was one of them.

“He was a dear friend of mine and exposed me to 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 reaction from 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.

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 offer plays in 26 languages including Tulu and Mizu and will see 2,500 artistes from the country and other parts of the world.

PTI