The biggest grievance of Hindi theatre practitioners is the lack of original scripts. Most are adaptations of famous works. To address this gap, Being Association, a theatre group of Mumbai, founded by actors Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Rasika Agashe, started an initiative called the Sanhita Manch Festival. The idea was to scout for original scripts from across the country and stage plays based on them. The fourth edition of the festival received around 240 entries in all three languages – Hindi, Marathi and English – out of which four scripts were picked. Three of them, Bagadbilla, Exit Wounds and Ek Adpaka Sa Natak, were staged recently in Delhi’s India Habitat Centre.
Excerpts from our chat with Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub & Rasika Agashe:
How important is theatre for you two?
Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub: It’s everything for us. Just being in the auditorium gives us happiness. Theatre is our medium and it allows us to express our feelings, emotions and thoughts effortlessly.
How was Sanhita Manch born? What is the story behind the name?
Zeeshan: Sanhita Manch is Rasika’s brainchild. I remember that back in 2017 we were sitting with some of our friends, and Rasika said, ‘How is that nobody is writing Hindi scripts in theatre? I think scripts are out there but they are not reaching us.’ The next step was to announce it on social media. I was expecting a lukewarm response, but in our first instalment, we received over 80 scripts.
Rasika: As far as the name is concerned, we kept it pretty simple. Sanhita basically means ‘manuscript’ or ‘text’, and manch means ‘stage’. So, we combined the two key things of theatre – script and stage.
What is the objective of the Manch?
It is an initiative to promote writers and bring their craft to light. We also give prize money to the writers who win in the jury round – Rs 50,000 each.
Along with managing the work of Sanhita Manch, you [Rasika] also wore the director’s hat for Ek Adpaka Sa Natak. Any challenges?
We took almost two months to prepare this play. The story is about a group of actors who are trying to put up a play in this era, where artists are stopped at every point from expressing their thoughts. Therefore, the stories remain uncooked. In some scenes, the dialogue is just one or two words, sometimes there are small sentences or they are making contradictory statements. From the moment I read this script, I wanted to direct it because it was out of my comfort zone.
How do you [Zeeshan] see your role behind Sanhita Manch?
This year, my role has been of a financier.Initially, I also helped them out with the set-up of lights and acting workshops because I just wanted to be involved at any level.Unfortunately, theatre in India does not have money. It was the biggest reason why I had to step away from theatre.So, with Sanhita Manch, my aim is to fill this gap. To organise a festival, you need roughly Rs 14-15 lakh. The sponsorships offered in theatre can maximum go up to Rs 1 lakh or Rs 1.5 lakh. My role is to fill the gap between the requirement and the sponsorship attained so that no compromises are made in the quality of the play.
Despite making an impact in mainstream cinema with projects like Raees, Scoop, Haddi, and Jogi, you still retain a soft spot for this world.
It is my first love. I was introduced to the art of acting through theatre. The kind of actor I am today, and the roles which I manage to pull off, I owe it all to my time in theatre.