On stage, on cue
Aashant Sharma is an actor, director, and teacher. He has appeared in more than two dozens plays, and a dozen films, and has begun directing plays as well. His latest directorial, Katha Express, is currently being staged at Mandala Theatre-Nepal, Anamnagar. The Post’s Timothy Aryal caught up with Sharma to talk about his career, inspirations and his latest play. Excerpts:
How did you catch the theatre bug?
It goes back a long way, to my childhood, actually. When I was growing up in Nawalparasi in the late ‘70s, I used to get involved in local cultural acts; the local Tharu community would occasionally organise the staging of Ramleela, a play that derives from the Ramayana. I would observe the shows enthusiastically. But I got into acting a bit later in around the mid ‘90s. I got my break as an actor all by chance. When the actor for the Maairam comedy said he could not do the play in the night before of staging the play, the director offered the role to me. I worked hard all night and played the role.That was the first time I appeared in a play.
Later when I came to Kathmandu, I got a chance to hone my craft and understand the basic workings of theatre through Actor’s Studio, where I have been working as a teaching assistant for some time now.
Who do you look up to for inspiration?
Anup Baral. He has an inimitable spirit of working and makes others work as well. There is a lot to learn from him.
How do you evaluate the current trend of theatre in Nepal?
The development of theatre has looked promising in recent times. Now there are five theatre houses in the city, continually producing plays, which is obviously a good thing for Nepali theatre. It can be said that currently theatre is prosperous. But then, we have a lot to consider regarding professionalism in the theatre industry.
What do you think makes a good play?
A play that evokes basic human sentiments. A play has to connect—that is artfully engage—its audience with the subject matter that it deals with.
You have also worked in a lot of movies. What do you think makes a great actor?
Empathy. It’s almost exclusively is empathy that makes a great actor great. One has to understand the emotions and motives of the character he is going to portray, if he is to embody the character well. For instance, if you watch the 1982 movie Gandhi, you will find it hard to believe that the lead actor (Ben Kingsley) is a foreigner and not Indian.
Please tell us about your latest directorial, Katha Express.
Katha Express is a stage adaptation of three stories from the story collection Chocolate, penned by Nayan Raj Panday. The first two plays—Sukmel and Khel—basically deal with the concept of sexual psychology while the latter portrays the ironies and absurdities of urban life.
Is there any reason in particular that you picked those stories?
When I first read the stories I found their dealings with sexual psychology in the Nepali context especially appealing.There are characters in our society who are not what they seem to be. There is a big irony lying undercutting it. I wanted to unearth that irony through plays.
From where do you draw your inspiration from?
There is a lot to learn from watching the performances of others. Ideas come from all sorts of things and in all sorts of ways. One day you may find a subject from books, sometimes from movies.
Source: Kathmandu Post
