There’s something about the charm of traditional theatre — actors and actresses completely getting into character and bewildering audiences with deeply moving live performances. Diverse emotions tingle your heart at different points, and you feel as though you are part of the story. While it is true that we cannot live without our screens, one always has the choice to watch, with childlike wonder, a magical theatre play. Speaking of this, a beloved Marathi play called Kutumb Kirrtan was staged at Ravindra Bharathi. Sankarshan Karhade, who wrote the play and was one of its lead actors, shares his thoughts with CE.
“Kutumb Kirrtan was a family drama; essentially, I played the role of the son who found himself caught between his modern wife and his tradition-conscious mother. The play was a thoroughly entertaining watch,” says Sankarshan, who reveals that this is the fourth commercial play he has written. The play stemmed from a thought that sprouted in his mind after he watched an intriguing one-act play. But he playfully refuses to reveal what the thought was.
Originally from Marathwada in Maharashtra, Sankarshan has a strong link with Hyderabad, as his father worked at the State Bank of Hyderabad. “And so, I would often visit this city, chomping Karachi biscuits and proudly wearing Chermas shirts. I love Tollywood films, and cannot tell you the number of times I watched Chiranjeevi sir’s Indra (2002).”
And while Hyderabad has a prominent Marathi community that enjoyed the play, non-Marathis also had a wonderful time. “See, drama is visual, which means a non-Marathi person can understand the dynamics and behaviours in the play. Language is no barrier for drama; although I don’t know every English word, I enjoy watching English plays,” shares Sankarshan.
There is an evolved wisdom in his words and an evident love for theatre, which first stole little Sankarshan’s four-year-old heart. His banker father, true to his passion, would act in a host of plays; Sankarshan thus picked up the ways of the stage, learning how to stand, talk, and emote.
Today, Sankarshan writes, acts, and directs plays. But writing Kutumb Kirrtan surely must have been a unique experience. He agrees, saying, “Kutumb Kirrtan took me five months to write, and eight drafts later, the final script was born. We do small improvs, but the script is sacrosanct.” But while writing a play, he says he doesn’t think that he will play a certain character. “I write in a very neutral way, giving each person their pride of place in the production,” explains Sankarshan.
According to Sankarshan, Marathi theatre has a rich history of at least 150 years. “What stands out about Marathi plays is how, along with laying special emphasis on language and societal issues, they strike a balance between tradition and modernity. A drama is a mirror image of society, and that’s what Marathi plays are,” says the artiste, adding that Marathi people are emotional, down-to-earth, and soft-hearted, with a penchant for good humour.
He leaves us with profoundly cerebral thoughts: “I’d like to paraphrase a beautiful quote I read somewhere: ‘Act like you’re living your life and live life like you are acting.’ Essentially, acting should be absolutely natural. We theatre actors do natak not for paise but for peace. These philosophies shone through in Kutumb Kirrtan.”