For the love of theatre

Theatre is like a spiritual gym where you fine tune and flex your intellectual muscles, says Mita Vashisht, who never went to a gym otherwise. She tells Bhumika K. she wonders why there's such a big deal made of actors' bodies today

Arising intolerance to a conflicting point of view can be attributed, to a great extent, to the fact that the space for performing arts has diminished, says actor-director Mita Vashisht. "There's no debate, you don't question yourself or values, you don't ruminate…the only group left then, is hooligans," she says.

A graduate of the National School of Drama (NSD), she's performed her much-acclaimed solo play "Lal Ded" (based on life of medieval Kashmiri mystic Lal Ded) consistently since 2004. Mita believes "theatre keeps me free-flowing and clean". In Bangalore recently to perform in Lilette Dubey's production of "August: Osage County" brought by Ballantine's, Mita says theatre's been with her right through her career — that saw her weave in films, television, singing — but "maybe unobtrusively". She's been teaching techniques amalgamated through her theatre experience at some of the country's premier design, film and theatre institutes — NIFT (Delhi), FTII (Pune), NSD (Delhi) and the NID (Ahmedabad). "Theatre is the most democratic space for differences to be celebrated. I love performing live to audience… it's like a spiritual gym where you fine tune and flex your intellectual muscles," she grins her wide grin.

But, for a lot of television-soap lovers, she may simply be the mean face of Trishna from "Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki". Or for those whose memory goes way back nostalgically to the Doordarshan days, one may remember that unconventional voice and face from "Space City Sigma", "Bharat Ek Khoj", "Swabhimaan". Wouldn't she have been happier coming into films and TV now, when "unconventional" is the norm? "I was a bit of a clairvoyant… I knew even then, when I started out at 20, that what I really wanted to do will happen much later," she says. "At the same time, when we came into the field, TV was still at its best. There's certain immortality in the work done then… a lot of people talk about it even now, be it TV or my films like 'Drohkaal' or 'Siddheshwari'."

As an actor, she also has a lot to say about a big issue created of actors "being size zero" today. "I mean, big deal! I used to sail, swim, and ski…we had great bodies, but never made a big deal of it. We never went to a gym. I even did a full-nude scene in 'Siddheshwari'…"

She's recently made a docu-feature, "She of The Four Names", on Lal Ded again, for the Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) — her film directorial debut. "There's a huge difference between doing a play and a film on the same subject. The exploration is very different in theatre, which combines your intuitive, intellectual and emotional self." She also recently directed a play with young actors for the Short+Sweet Festival. "It's great to move from doing interesting work to reinventing oneself and being offered exciting work with youngsters," she smiles.

No one can forget Mita as the protagonist in Shubha Mudgal's music video "Mann ke Manjeeré" that told the story of a woman who leaves an abusive marriage, turning truck driver to support her daughter. It turned into a national campaign against domestic violence. Her theatre too has always been linked to a cause. Her artistic forum Mandala, which she set up in 2001, took up a project to work with 30 trafficked minors, using theatre as therapy. She continued to work with these young girls rescued from brothels over four years. "From being hysterical traumatised kids, they grew into women. We taught them not to allow anyone to invade the space of their past. Today some of them are married, have kids, run NGOs, one works in a factory as a stock-taker… that experience gave me an insight into our country at the grassroots level and the kind of issues people face." - BHUMIKA K.

See, shoot and share

A software engineer-turned-wedding photographer Madhavi.

Hyderabad's photography scene is as vibrant as it gets, writes Neeraja Murthy

Out of the screen of a computer, it's the picture of a bridegroom smeared with 'haldi' and smiling happily into the camera. There's nothing unusual about this photograph from a wedding album except that it's a 'haldi' ceremony captured by a former software engineer, who now specialises as a wedding photographer. Kalyan D. was working with Dr. Reddy Laboratories before he quit his job to tell stories in digital frames. Sanjay Borra is an IT professional and on weekends he is a shutterbug wandering in the streets looking for people and events to capture in his digital SLR. Make way for the new age shutterbugs sparkling in the photography scene of Hyderabad. If digital cameras inspired many to take up photography, with digital SLRs it's a step ahead. While some have quit jobs to follow their hearts, there are other professionals who are happy at their jobs from Monday to Friday and discover photography on the weekends. Some are self-taught, and others attend workshops and join photo walks to learn and explore the intricacies of photography.

"When we relocated to Hyderabad after living in the US for 13 years, I was not motivated to go back to work," states Madhavi Kuram. During the 'what-to-do-time', she casually took to photography. "Even before I realised, I got sucked into it," she smiles. She is now a wedding photographer and she feels, "The field is quite active for people who want to move away from traditional photography."

No one can dispute that photography's rise is proportional to the popularity of social networking and photo-sharing websites. "The amount of growth seen in these last five years is tremendous. See, shoot and share is the new mantra," says Sanjay, who likes to shoot candid photographs. He adds, "The cost of a basic SLR is around Rs. 30,000, equal to a professional's one month salary. Now, he/she doesn't mind spending the month's salary to buy it," he says. The scene in Hyderabad is vibrant and Kalyan attributes it to the lack of opportunities in the city for aficionados to pursue their interests in fine arts. "There is nothing much to do on weekends so showcasing one's talent in the field of photography has picked up," he says.

Another interesting feature is that the field is becoming a meeting ground for people from different walks of life.

While experts say this is a happy trend, they opine that one should not rate one's pictures according to the Facebook comments. "Young boys and girls are kicked about the fact their wall is bombarded with comments for the photographs taken by them," says Anil Singhal, who conducts workshops for budding photographers.

"They don't realise that it is the family and friends tied to you emotionally who are commenting. One should understand the nuances and never be in a mad rush to just click pictures. If you have an eye for a photograph, even a basic camera can do the job for you. Never think of replacing your skills with a high-end camera." Echoing that view is photographer Arvind Chenji. "The online sites have made photography an expression of connectivity," says Chenji. "Everything in the future is going to be visual. We might just have one gadget which will be your phone, computer and even a projector. However, no one can replace a professional and the difference he brings to photographs taken in an ordinary situation."

So, what are you waiting for? If your head is full of adventure and you want to express your feelings through pictures, grab a camera, frame your subject and click away. - Neeraja Murthy

Great Photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha is nomore

Special Arrangement Legendary fashion photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha.

Bollywood film industry's legendary photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha passed away here in the early hours of Tuesday after he suffered a massive heart attack.

“He lived alone. Other members [at home] went to wake him up and found that he had passed away. He was up till 3.30 a.m. He was fine. He said he was going off to sleep. We found him dead in the morning,” Mr. Rajadhyaksha's cousin and well-known writer and columnist, Shobhaa De, said.

“He had no immediate family; only nephews and nieces. He was not suffering from any ailment. So the heart attack did come as a shock,” nephew Sanjay Rajadhyaksha told The Hindu.

Celebrities, namely filmmaker Karan Johar, actors Kajol, Rani Mukherjee, Juhi Chawla were among those who visited Mr. Rajadhyaksha's residence in south Mumbai to pay their last respects. The funeral was held at Chandanwadi in the evening and was attended by family and friends. Tina Ambani, Ms. De, lyricist Javed Akhtar and theatre personality Dolly Thakore attended the funeral.

Mr. Rajadhyaksha was cremated in the evening after the last rites were performed.

Mr. Akhtar described the ace lensman as “a very rich person, emotionally, intellectually. There were so many aspects to his personality. He was a good raconteur. He was extremely sincere and a very educated person who could talk on any topic. He was an authority on Opera and the classics. He had a huge collection of western classical music. He knew a lot about old cinema too,” Mr. Akhtar said.

“There can only be one Gautam,” Ms. De said.

Making celebrity photographs his specialty, Mr. Rajadhyaksha went on to become an iconic figure in the industry. Starting out from an ad agency, he quickly gained recognition as a glamour photographer when he started to take his own pictures for star interviews. He moved to working for magazines such as The Illustrated Weekly of India, and film magazines like Stardust, Cineblitz and Filmfare. “I pushed him into photography. I bullied him into getting into professional photography. So I feel a sense of pride. He was not very confident and I told him to just go out there and do it. You could see his talent. He was an administrative officer in Lintas looking after the photography division. He was coordinating. I pushed him to start writing. He was one of the first photojournalists in India who would interview and click the celebrity he was interviewing,” Ms. De said.

In 1992, he wrote his first screenplay for the film Bekhudi, which launched actor Kajol's career. In 1997, he released a coffee table book titled ‘FACES', containing 45 film personalities.

“He treated every single person who came into his studio like a superstar, whether it was a Sachin Tendulkar or an aspiring model. He treated every single person exactly the same way. He made them comfortable. This I have not seen in any other photographer. This ability to reach out, to make them feel wonderful about themselves regardless of how they looked. People used to say, ‘Gautamji ke lens me jadoo hai' [there is magic in Gautam's lens]. His lens was not soft focussed, but it captured something that was soft and wonderful in a person, which no other photographer could capture. To be photographed by Gautam was a privilege. It was to know that the person behind you is going to make you look like a goddess.” Ms. De said.

“He was an opera devotee. He loved Italian Opera and I insisted that instead of playing bhajans please play Opera. He loved Tosca so much. He was a man of very many passions beyond photography. He was a great cook; a lot of people don't know that. He was a superb orator — bilingual. He spoke and wrote Marathi very well. He loved his music, his food, his life and photography. I will make sure that the Gautam Rajadhyaksha frame remains immortal,” she said.

Starting a photography programme at Pune's Symbiosis Institute had been Mr. Rajadhyaksha's dream for the past few years. On 16th September, the day of his 61st birthday, a grand function has been organised in Pune, which he was to attend. “The programme would have mentored a lot of young photographers. And he has already mentored so many who would just come to him and say sir teach us photography. The last two years he was working almost obsessively. The stress of it could have taken a toll. We would tell him to slow down. But he said it's got to be done. He was shooting till the last minute. I am so glad that he died with the camera in hand which is the way he would have wanted to go,” Ms. De said.

“I will remember him with a lot of joy and happiness. Fantastic memories of great shoots. He was also training to be a classical singer. His voice was so mellifluous. It was like liquid gold in his throat. He had also planned to cut an album with Asha Bhosle. In a way, he was preparing for a debut in music. He sang Opera and Indian classical music. He shot my wedding and Kajol's wedding. Those pictures are like no other wedding pictures. They are so spontaneous.”

The news of Mr. Rajadhyaksha's demise sent shockwaves through the industry as reactions poured in on the social networking site, Twitter.

“Gautam Rajadhyaksha the gentlest of humans, and one of the finest photographers in the industry, a friend, family favourite…RIP. Too shocked to learn of Gautam! Were talking about him just the other day. Many of his pictures adorn our house and our books. You have left behind a legacy that shall keep you in our hearts forever. Pictures that you took shall be with us always!” Amitabh Bachchan tweeted.
(The Hindu 13 sep 2011)