HYDERABAD: This weekend, Hyderabad is all set to experience a fresh array of theatrical productions woven into its vibrant theatre landscape. Taher Ali Baig Productions and Octopus Studios are collaboratively unveiling a new initiative titled ‘Hyderabad Theatre Weekend,’ aiming to facilitate the exchange of theatrical works between Indian cities and the global stage.
To kick off the event, Rahul Reddy, founder of Octopus Studios, will be seen in a comedy play titled ‘Miya Biwi Ke Mantakha.’ Described as a straightforward comedy, the play unfolds a lighthearted exchange between a husband and wife in the Dakhni language, directed by Taher Ali Baig.
Diverging from the comedic theme, two short plays directed by Rahul and featuring Tollywood star Adarsh Balakrishna are set to captivate the audience. Presented under the collective title ‘Mulling with Mueller,’ the plays — ‘The Thing That Happened’ and ‘Spoilers’ — are penned by American playwright Lee Mueller. These thought-provoking plays delve into political issues, resonating with global incidents of war.
After dedicating the past couple of years to film direction and digital content production, Taher Ali Baig has made a comeback to the Hyderabad theatre scene with plans to further contribute to it in the coming years. Discussing his directorial role in ‘Miya Biwi Ke Mantakha’, he says, “The performance will take place at Rangbhoomi Spaces on December 23, featuring Anmona Chaliha and Rahul Reddy as actors, with myself in the director’s chair. The play, originally written by Marathi playwright Yogesh Soman and titled ‘Gappa’ in Marathi, has been translated into Hyderabadi language with the assistance of Saurabh Gharipurikar. Directing in the local language was a first for me, and it felt like a calling. I was drawn to the play’s essence, as it involves a delightful conversation. Despite addressing serious issues, the play maintains a lighthearted and comical tone.”
Rahul Reddy told CE about his longstanding connection with theatre and how for both him and Taher, coming back to theatre post-Covid was a way to restore personal and professional gratification. “I debuted in 2014 and have been doing theatre since then. I have been part of about 50-60 plays in six languages and just the same amount and more accounts for in production. I have dedicated the largest part of my life to theatre. Getting back to it after a long break — the whole process has been very cathartic and quite intense — has brought back a lot of memories, learnings and unlearning from the time we started. Thinking about what we learned from our gurus and mentors and reflecting on our work has been quite interesting,” he said.
Besides Rahul and Taher, another enduring friendship finds its way into the professional arena as Rahul collaborates with Adarsh Balakrishna for the third time in the theatrical realm. However, it is Rahul’s first time directing Adarsh, who, owing to his presence in Tollywood and participation in Bigg Boss Telugu, has gained quite some popularity.
Talking about working with Rahul and Taher, Adarsh Balakrishna says, “It’s not my first time working with them. I’ve been directed by Taher earlier in a couple of plays. It helps when you have people that you’ve established a rapport with and Rahul has been a friend of mine for a long time. It’s been an absolute blast working on this. These guys are really committed men, they just spend so much time on each actor. Their dedication to their job is commendable.”
Last seen in Krishna Vamsi’s Ranga Maarthaanda and Gunasekhar’s Shaakuntalam, Adarsh spoke about the differences between cinema and theatre, “In theatre, you’ve got many more lines to contend with. You’ve got the whole script to remember. You need to focus on the point because you’ve only got 40-50 minutes. It’s like a T20 match versus a test match. Your attention span needs to be more spread out and you need to be alert throughout.
While working in films, you’re just not in the zone sometimes and you can always fall for the cut and then come back and find a way to get into the zone. But here there are no second takes, no second chances. You or your co-actor could misalign but it’s important to not lose track and integrate those mistakes into the performance seamlessly without making it seem like you goofed up.”
He also spoke about the challenges of theatre that help one refine as an actor, “Sometimes from cinema, a few bad habits can creep in and this is a great opportunity to go back to the drawing board, realign yourself and understand where you truly stand. I love the whole process of people coming together and creating something. You also have the audience reacting to you spontaneously. It’s not like in cinema where it’s a long, arduous process. Theatre is very gratifying and scary at the same time,” he added. When asked about his role in the upcoming production, he said, “If I could put it in one sentence, it would be: what if a destroyer comes here on the planet and realises that his job has already been taken or the fact that people are doing a much better job than him?”
He was told that he was identified with a ‘bad boy image’ due to his roles in cinema. Responding to it, he says, “And you want to ask if I were made for the role? I think I’m a very good bad boy. But yeah, I don’t want to be slotted into any category except for the category of being a competent, able actor. I’d like to do as many diverse roles as possible. I think this character also allows me to break away from that typical bad boy label.”
He will be seen with Shikha Gupta and Rohit Kumar in Spoilers, one of the two plays in Mulling with Mueller. The other thread of this show called ‘The Thing That Happened’ will feature Ankit Kohli, Geet Kukreja and Akhilesh Reddy.