About : Theatre Actress, wife of Raj Babbar
Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadira_Babbar
How it happened : Interview with Nadira Babbar
Interview Date: October, 2001
Place: Bahrain
Pics: None
Young Times(YT) : After more than 20 years of theatre, you recently got the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for Begum Jaan. Do you think this award came in too late ?
Nadira Babbar(NB) : I was never working for any award. So I don’t think that it has come late. I would have been happier if it would have com earlier, but it does not bother me that it has come too late.
YT : Your first directorial venture was way back in the 70s . How have your ways of direction changed since then ?
NB : I did my first play in the 1970s when I was still a student at the National School of Drama, and since 1970 to 2000, the whole scene of theatre has changed. So naturally, my direction has also changed. With new and better equipments, theatre has become more comfortable.
YT :Is it true that you are planning to write your autobiography ? If yes, then when is it coming out by ?
NB : It’s true that I am…I was writing my autobiography, but then I wish I would know when I could give this answer, as I am not getting the time to sit down and finish it. But there are one or two publishers, who are waiting for the autobiography to be finished, but I have not given them any exact date, because I am not able to work on it.
YT : You seem to be influenced by language too, considering that you want to publish a collection of your poems as well as some of your plays. Your comments ?
NB : I don’t understand that when you say that I seem to be influenced by language. Actually, my family has roots in literature. Both my parents were writers and critics and poets, and I have a very strong influence of my parents on my personality. Literature is also a part of theatre. Words are equally important in theatre. So it is not division. And I feel very happy that I have this branching out of my art, which is literature and language.
YT : What reactions has your play, Begum Jaan been receiving since the first time it was It was staged, when interestingly all the three actors had just ten days to rehearse ?
NB : That it is true, that on the floor, maybe we had less time. before we went on the floor, we had a lot of rehearsals, that is, almost one month of discussions and reading and paperwork, and mentally, I think all three of us were very ready. And we rehearsed very heavily on the days we spent rehearsing. And since there are only three actors, it was a little easier, we had a lot of time on our hands and we didn’t have any one else to adjust to. And it was very well received, I think it is one of my most popularly acclaimed plays.
YT : You have been in theatre since the early 70s. What changes has the face of theatre seen from then ?
NB : Many changes. A major change is that the respect of theatre has gone up. Of course, if I compare it with the rapid growth of television, then it might appear to be a little slower. But then, these kinds of arts grow a little slower, you know, arts like classical music or classical dance. They grow slow. It’s not as rapid as cricket fever, or car racing, or comedy serials. Every media has its own base of growing. But theatre has definitely grown and it has definitely shown a sign of progress, which is a very major cause for us to have hope.
YT : But don’t you think that television has put theatre aside, because lot of people prefer sitting in front of their idiot boxes, rather than going to live theatres.
NB : No, I don’t think so. Theatre audience is different. We have a completely different audience. Television audience is television audience. You can’t compare them with theatre audience.
YT : Tell us something about the recently concluded Natyavasant Utsav, celebrating the 20 years of Ekjut.
NB : We completed 20 years in Ekjut, and we celebrated it by called it a Natyavasant. And it was a very major affair…we held up a fair of 18 days, and we did 9 plays in that. In the mornings, we used to have seminars and workshops…workshops on music and acting and speech and dance. And we had discussion with playwrights and eminent theatre personalities. And we had regular shows. And then we had street theatre festival, we invited the best of street theatres from all over the country, and we did shows on that, in that festival. In the evenings, we also had platform performances, you know, younger people wanted to do theatre. And besides that, we had felicitation of the very old and senior backstage workers, who are not appreciated and recognized anywhere. You know, we called and invited people from all over the country, somebody who is 65 years old, somebody who is 70 years old, people who have just distributed tickets in auditoriums, or people who have just done sets for 30 years or 40 years. So we invited these kind of people, and in every show we gave them some money and nariyals(coconuts) and a shawl, just a sign of our showing tokens of appreciation and respect from our side. And we also had a whole night of celebration, Jashn ki raat, in which we had dances and music and poetry. It was very well appreciated.
YT : When of your plays went on air on Zee TV. What reactions did you receive ? Are you planning on airing more plays ?
NB : We gave a play to Zee TV, and it was air, and it was also appreciated. But I have no plans of giving any more plays to television.
YT : Any particular reasons for that ?
NB : Because I very strongly feel that theatre production dies when you do it on television.
YT :You were a gold medallist at the national school of drama. Don’t you have any urge to be on the big screen, or do you plan to just stick to theatre ?
NB : Theatre makes me very happy…it gives me immense pleasure and joy and satisfaction, and I don’t think there is any need for me to go and try the big screen.
YT : You get appreciated on a wider scale then, more people begin to recognize you..
NB : Yeah, more people recognize Hrithik Roshan, in comparison to Balasubramanium, but Balasubramanium is Balasubramanium, and Bismillah Khan is Bismillah Khan….and Hrithik Roshan is Hrithik Roshan.
YT : You have worked with renowned directors like Grotovisky and Peter Brooks for a few months. How was the experience ?
NB : It was a very good experience. In that age, when I worked with them, it was very nice, it had really opened new avenues for me and taught me a great lot of things.
YT : As an experienced theatre artiste, what have you to say about your daughter ? What kind of working relationship do you share with her ?
NB : A very good working relationship. She is a very good theatre person, very hardworking, very attentive, very understanding, and she is very disciplined. Like even today, though our hosts were offering to take her suitcases, but she was very respectful, and said no. That’s her way of looking at things and that’s her discipline.
YT : Are you satisfied with the films your daughter is doing ?
NB : At the moment, she is doing our film, which he have launched. I am very satisfied, and I am sure she will pick projects of great respect even in the future.
YT : After
NB : We have lot of plans. We are having our next shows in
YT : What are your future plans about yourself and your daughter ?
NB : I wish I could make a good film, maybe direct a film for her one day, and give her a role in which she is the lead, and exploit her talents to the rim.
YT : Finally, do you plan to write more plays and if yes, will they be based on similar themes ?
NB : They cannot be based on similar themes. You cannot repeat your themes. At least I don’t. There will be no freshness in my work then. I plan to write, definitely, I have written two or three different works, with different concepts, let’s see which one come first. I have written only two plays so far, Sakubai and Dayashankar Ki Diary, and both are different themes. I don’t want to be like film directors, who repeat comedy and family dramas as such.
© Nikhil Taneja (nikhiltaneja@gmail.com)
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