तुगलक मेरी नज़रों से

तुगलक का जन्म : Summer of 2007, जब Economy down थी | Manish के पास काफी खाली वक्त हुआ करता था | काफी दिनों से गौर कर रही थी, कोई Script पढ़े जा रहे थे | फिर एक दिन जनाब ने अपने खाली दिमाग में जगी हलचल को उगल ही दिया , " यह तो बड़ा ही दिलचस्प नाटक है , मैं इसे Direct करना चाहता हूँ |" "Are you crazy?" ठीक यही अलफ़ाज थे मेरे | मैंने सोचा यह भूत भी उतर जाएगा कुछ दिनों में | फिर Cricket world cup, India trip और कुछ नाकाम house projects और मैंने सोचा भूत उतर गया | पर ...

Director का जन्म : नाटक में official पंडित का रोल तो कई बार अदा किया ही था ?मैंने पूछा ,"तुम्हे ये direction की क्या सूझी?" जबाब मिला "जब acting करते हैं तब मन में ख्याल आता है कि अगर मैं इस scene ko direct करता तो , कुछ तब्दीली करके इसका रुख बदल देता , वगैरह वगैरह

शानदार सफ़र की शुरूआत : आखिर वह दिन आ ही गया | Theater भी book हो गया |Best Producer एक साल पहले ही वादा कर चुके थे | सारे बेहतरीन Actors भी मिल गए | नाटक खानदान में कई अज़ीज़ सदस्य शामिल हुए | और तो और Manish की consulting job में traveling भी अब दम तोड रही थी जिसकी जगह conference calls ने ले ली थी | वो कहते है ना कि "जब हम किसी चीज को दिल से चाहते है तो सारी कायनात हमारा साथ देती है उसे पाने के लिए |"


अब दिल्ली दूर नहीं : जब सर पर कफ़न बांध ही लिया था तो फिर क्या था | cast aur production के तीस लोग, और, नाटक के रास्ते में आने वाली पचास रुकावटें, उन सबका सबने साथ में डटकर मुकाबला किया | गिरीश कर्नाड के लिखे उन पन्नों को आखिर एक ख़ूबसूरत अंजाम दे ही दिया |

बस चंद दिनों , चंद लम्हों में यह सफ़र एक हसीन यादगार बनकर रह जाएगा कि एक जंग उस तुगलक ने लड़ी थी और एक इस तुगलक ने | उसने अपनी आवाम को हिला कर रख दिया था, गोया कुछ ऐसा ही जूनून इधर भी है |

Tughlaq in the 21st century.

• The CEO announces that the company's headquarters are moving from Dublin to Delaware starting next Monday because his girlfriend fell in love with a German Shepherd not willing to move out of Delaware.

• Another day he says, the VP of marketing will be VP of operations because it's just a job and I said so.

• Then he sells off his most profitable business unit to the #1 rival.

• Then he sacks his entire board of directors and announces nuns on the Board (and his company is not a church).

• He then moves the headquarters back to Dublin when the girlfriend started missing her Irish Parakeet.

This my friends would be the modern day Tughlaq. If you want to see how the 14th century Tughlaq was, come on over and check him out. June 11-June 20th, 2010 at the Tabard Theatre, San Jose. Details at: http://www.naatak.com/current_event.html

Not part of Tughlaq Production? tugh laq...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2gNLS6w2A0

Dhoop Kinare Pays off - Mogambo KHush hua!

Remember those Pakistani sitcoms from the 80’s/90’s? Tanhaiyan? Dhoop Kinare? Padosi? The crazy antics of Qabacha? Endearing Dr. Zoya? I remember sitting cross-legged on my parent’s living room floor in the afternoons and watching rerun episode after episode on video-tape. Not only was the story-line interesting, but the acting was great and the language – oh the language! I remember most of the Urdu went over my head. I had no idea what the words meant, but they sounded so magical and BEAUTIFUL and in context, I was able to follow the plot perfectly. It was a great tool in my procrastination toolbox, especially around the time of homework deadlines and board exams.

Finally, all those hours spent hearing the “KHaalis Urdu” in these TV serials has paid off as I rehearse the dialogues for Tughlaq. I am surprised that I can tell the difference between the “kh” in KHamosh and khilona, the “gh” in GHum and ghoda, the “K” in yaKeen and karela (last word not in Play). Hopefully, with our efforts, the audience will be able to hear the difference too. Even if every single Urdu word cannot be understood, the actors’ expressions, the context and the English Supertitles will help. And then, the audience can say “Shabash! Bahut KHoob! Wah - Kya KHaalis Urdu hai!”

I am now itching to YouTube Mr. India to see if Amrish Puri actually said "Mogambo KHush hua!"

Hot Saturday for the Sets Team

A few members of the Sets team (Snigdha, Juhi, Siddharth, Soumya and myself) assembled at Harish's backyard last Saturday (June 29) to complete a few set pieces. I am attaching a few snapshots of that warm afternoon. The pictures show in turn- Siddharth covering the edges of a set-piece with terracotta color, I am installing some 14th century crude nails on the court door, , Soumya laying in an intricate design on the palace door, Snigdha putting "bark" on a tree stump I fabricated out of a planter box, and Juhi putting ornamental decoration on platform skirts.

Thoughts from Producer

The production of Tughlaq, including sets, costume and make-up was a challenge.

The sets were affected by the uniqueness of Tabard theatre. Tabard is setup like a baseball park, with the stage located at the home-plate. Our past plays such as Surya Ki Antim Kiran, and Final Solutions, performed at Cubberley in Mountain View, were on a proscenium stage, with the audience only in front of the stage. Tabard stage, on the other hand, faces the audience on three sides. That makes a set design more challenging for establishing the desired allusion. For example, while a column in Cubberly would be a facade with detailing only one side, Tabard required three sides finished. Moreover, Tabard is an intimate theatre lacking wing spaces, set/props holding areas etc. So we had to devise elaborate procedures to change sets between scenes without distraction. To illustrate, changing from a street scene to a palace scene required us to make two faced scenery-pieces which could be pivoted around

For costumes, Snigdha researched the historical books and websites to come up with unique costumes for actors. She, then, got them made in India and brought over for the play. For make-up, Nitya went through several iterations with Manish and others to come up with facial details including beards and mustaches. Some actors preferred to grow their own facial hair for the play. Others in production have similar stories to tell.

All in all, it has been a challenging and very enjoyable journey for all of us in Production.

Pradeep

A Naatak Newcomer’s Journey : A new reference point

When we first started practicing for Tughlaq, I was excited and enthusiastic. I was still experiencing the thrill of getting the part of Tughlaq’s Step-mom. In a narcissistic way, I think most actors enjoy this beginning part of the play process – you’ve just bagged a part, you’ve “beaten out” all the others at the auditions, the play date seems far far away, you’re meeting new people and old friends, you’re beginning to act out scenes, experiment, you’re working on your costume and makeup and anything is possible.

But two weeks from opening night, I feel different. I obsess over every scene, every line, every blocking movement, every mannerism, every projection point in the dialogue… Opening night is near, run-throughs are going on and the pressure is on. I really felt the pressure at last week’s run-through (May 26^th) and could not figure out the main trigger. Of course, the approaching show-date is an obvious one. And then it hit me – the bar is raised.

Before Naatak, my reference point were non-actors – folks who are highly skilled in a lot of different fields where they could put me to shame - but not necessarily always in the field of acting.

After Naatak, my reference point is the other actors – of course, we are one team, everybody is cooperative and helpful. But come on, comparison is only human. Its not like I want to “beat them”, I try to be like them, I yearn to be like them, I aim to be like them. And when I see how far I have to go, I realize that my acting sucks.

So what’s the positive here? Well, I am also INSPIRED to be like them, I am ENCOURAGED to be like them and am also ENABLED to be like them. They observe, they give constructive feedback, they help me improve and most importantly, they spend the time to help me out.

So now I’ve established a new reference point – myself Pre Naatak. With all the help I’ve received from the Naatak actors, I will be able to act better than Manisha – Pre Naatak and “beat her”. Now, that will feel great.