"I am under no obligation to play
to the gallery"

A KONKANI by birth, a Mumbaikar by sheer habit and a theatrewallah by choice — Jayadev Hattangady has come a long way since the time he made the rounds of studios trying to realise his dreams of becoming a film director. He calls himself a freelance theatre and allied arts professional, who, in the last three decades, has done experimental theatre in Marathi, Hindi, English and Punjabi. He has directed over 30 productions and acted in 15 of them. Interestingly, his is a classic example of how a full-time theatre person can not only survive in an environment where the very obvious preference is for the mass media, but also continue evolving as a person and an artist. Whether it was directing, acting, teaching or training, he switched into allied streams and broadbased his creative scope.

He was an apprentice to Satyadev Dubey who sent him to the National School of Drama where he met his bride-to-be, the Kasturba of Gandhi — Rohini Hattangady. He received the Best Producer’s award for his final year production of Mahesh Elkunchwar’s Yatna Ghar in the year 1973-74. He was appointed Professor in the Department of Dramatics, Faculty of Performing Arts, M.S. University, Baroda in 1994 and has been part of the visiting faculty for Maharashtra State Government, the Goa Kala Academy, the South Gujarat University and the Panjab University where he has conducted workshops. He has directed plays for Bombay Doordarshan as well as a number of telefilms. A highly charged man, it is fascinating watching him talk. Words tumble out as he twirls his trademark moustache (which has unfortunately been tamed as he has moved on in years). Excerpts from an exclusive interview with Taru Bahl in Mumbai.

As a NSD topper, who went from Bombay’s bustling theatre environment to Delhi’s rather bureaucratic set-up, how did you carve out a professional routine on your return to Mumbai?

On my return in 1974, I joined Aavishkaar (am still with them) which was in its infancy. I and a few likeminded friends were fortunate enough in being granted enough artistic freedom to experiment and search for an idiom which could later turn into a distinctive style. One day, actress Sulbha Deshpande told me to try teaching theatre since Bombay at that time did not have any institutes like Delhi’s NSD. We started a series of training programmes and workshops for amateurs, students and even teachers and non initiated adults and found the response exciting. By this time I was already an established director on Marathi stage with my version of Larca’s Yerma having run to full houses.

Although Maharashtra has always had a vibrant theatre atmosphere, did the family react when you decided to pursue a full-fledged career in theatre?

The general reaction of family, friends and acquaintances was that of disbelief. "Theatre is fine, but what are you going to do for a living?" was the way people would react. It was understood that I would like other normal young career aspirants take to medicine, engineering, finance or the civil services and if I was stubbornly insistent, I could always throw in some theatre as ‘time-pass’. But when I stood my ground, it was only a matter of time before the family relented and allowed me to be. Doing professional theatre in Maharashtra, especially if you are reasonably good, can sustain you financially. You have very serious and committed audiences here. Show timings are odd — 11 am, 1 pm, 4 pm — with a view to accommodate the different cross sections of society who still prefer plays to other forms of entertainment and creative stimuli.

From films to theatre to training to theatre to acting in television serials. Tell us something about your evolution and growth.

After my initial experience of hunting for work in the film industry, I was so put off that I decided I would have nothing to do with Bollywood. But then when you have friends making films and repeatedly requesting you to take on cameo roles which fit you to a ‘T’, it does become difficult to refuse. That is how Saeed Mirza’s Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastan’ and Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon aata Hai, Chakra and Basu Bhattacharya’s yet to be released Madhumalti happened. In much the same way, I was recently approached to do a few serials Thoda Hai Thode Ki Zaroorat Hai which is currently on air and Kshitij (in the pipeline). I am not too comfortable acting for the audio-visual medium where the dialogues are lengthy and the recording sessions long drawn out. I would much rather do my own thing in a field I am far more comfortable and in command of.

You mentioned how it is possible to carve out a neat income from directing plays for mill competitions, colleges and other professional organisations. Could you do them under your own banner or did you have to forfeit that right?

Just the way public sector undertakings and banks make it a point to have sportspersons — cricketers, footballers — on their payrolls, in Maharashtra artistes are sought after. Amol Palekar, Anjan Srivastava, Mohan Bhandari and Ashok Saraf are some of the few who continued working in banks while they dabbled in theatre, serials and films. Only when they were absorbed in their alternate careers did they bid adieu to their primary vocations. Theatre culture is present even in companies which may be totally technical, say even in units that manufacture nuts and bolts or textiles and fabrics. I was asked to direct full-length plays for state competitions using workers for a number of mills. My only condition was that I be given the director’s credit. They made an exception and did it. It was a regular income. I usually direct one play a year which gets invited and sponsored all over the country. In addition, I direct plays for mills and colleges etc. This keeps me in touch with different kinds of people and helps my creative juices to keep on flowing.

What about the corporates waiting to undertake theatre workshops for workers and management. Can theatre workshops encourage role-playing, trust building, communication and unwinding? Does this lead to high productivity levels? How is it working with a target audience which may have had no direct initiation into theatre and drama?

It definitely helps if you have the right faculty and programme outline. What companies usually do is enlist the services of a hyped over-marketed person who maybe a professional or, worse, a quack and leave it to him to structure the sessions. The HRD department must thrash out what suits their needs best, what areas and issues they wish addressed. Unless a need-specific programme is chalked out, chances are the exercise would end up as a colossal waste of time and money. I personally have really enjoyed doing workshops for private and public sector undertakings. Theatre is therapeutic and does succeed in helping break down barriers of communication in an incredibly short span of time. The direct, hands-on approach helps participants to introspect and apply their minds minus bias and regimentation. It can bring a major paradigm shift in a person’s approach, attitudinal and behavioural temperament — at the professional, personal and even spiritual levels.

How have you and Rohini complemented each other’s professional output while giving each other space as well?

Rohini was trained to be an actress and I was trained to be a director. Before we tied the knot we had mutually decided not to trespass into each other’s territory — putting it albeit a little harshly.

It was understood that being in the more visible profession she would be in the limelight, she would be mobbed by the crowds and recognised instantly. She would appear to be two steps ahead of me. But now, after being married for more than two decades, having shared a very normal family life (we have one college-going son), there is no conflict if either of us branches out. It is another matter that she is not interested in direction and I have been roped in to act in serials, which she too happens to be doing a great job of. Just recently, I have directed her in my play Aparajita and, as any of her directors will vouch, she is a delight to work with.

You have been known as a rebel, a maverick, and an experimentalist. What is the typical Jayadev stamp?

Very early I decided not to do trashy commercial theatre. For me it has always been important to have a message which must communicate itself not in a dogmatic or didactic manner but in a subtle and clear way nevertheless. I don’t do a play simply because I have to do one. There has to be total involvement and commitment to the subject under scrutiny. It must have something to say about life. Themes which have often crept into my productions have usually centered around women’s issues and man-woman relationships. I was lucky to be branded initially in my career as someone who dabbles in experimental theatre.

This did help because it allowed me to get away with a lot of themes, stylisations and portrayals. Although your audience does expect you to come up with intellectually superior stuff, you are under no obligation to play to the gallery. In spite of doing so-called meaningful theatre, my plays have been popular running 45-100 shows. I improvise and alter the script to suit the time and mood of the moment so that it is relevant and yet earthy and real. There are times when my play has changed beyond recognition from the time of its conception to its final culmination. I used to have very elaborate props and sets typical of most fresh NSD graduates but now I have gradually moved towards minimalism.

Do you regret not being part of the brat-pack who very systematically work towards being hounded by the media. And does being low profile, even if one is good in one’s trade, affect the longevity and the value an artist commands in the market?

I don’t regret being low key. But in retrospect, especially when I see very mediocre artists hogging more than just their fifteen minutes of fame without anything concrete to show for it, I do feel that yes publicity, well-planned promotional campaigns and timing your productions and their presentations, does make a difference. They provide you with a short cut to success. The general perception is that if something is good it will win acclaim sooner or later and that which is substandard will fall flat on its face. I have been forced to change my opinion here. The hullaballo which accompanies some of the theatrical productions is so magnified that it creates an immediate must-see kind of an excitement. The tempo and build-up is such that even an average production gains instant credibility.

Where do you go from here?

Being an open and experimental person at heart I am very receptive to new influences and opportunities. Acting on television is lucrative. Meanwhile, I will continue to direct a play a year under the banner of Aavishakaar. I have, along the line, moved from the abstract to the specific and look forward to my future growth both as an artist and as a person.