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Incidentally, in the past few decades he too has been preoccupied with the film industry, primarily writing dialogues for movies like Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Khamosh and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, etc. Sardonically, he who has written for over 18 films quips, "In Bollywood, writers are not in the same league as stars. At best, writers are considered a necessary evil and come in the scheme of producers at the very last, after actors and others have been signed." Once in a while, a producer-director like Raj Kumar Santoshi does pay writers due respect. With Santoshi, Ranjit has worked in several films like the Legend of Bhagat Singh, Halla Bol and Lajja. But Kapoor is clear, "It’s his vision that I am putting forth." From writing for films to making one`85. he agrees is the gradual next step. However, it took Kapoor decades to direct his first film Chintooji. The film won critical acclaim but sank without a trace. He rues, "Starring Rishi Kapoor, a film that got four and-a-half-star review rating never got the publicity it deserved." Once bitten twice shy. Not exactly, this elder brother of talented actor Annu Kapoor is looking for a producer to make one on Uday Parkash’s novella Peeli Chatri Waali Ladki. Adapting literature has been Kapoor’s prime time passion. Wistfully, he recalls the days of NSD when theatre stalwart Ebrahim Alkazi, reprimanded them, saying, "If you want to understand theatre, read Ibsen and Chekhov". Says Kapoor, "We were visibly piqued by his suggestion but today I realise that without understanding the great two one can never understand modern theatre," He elaborates how realism is the basis of theatre without mastering which one can’t experiment. And that’s what is wrong with the alumni of the NSD today who want to fly without learning to walk. Kapoor is adamant that one must be clear about what you want to say and to whom. Whether he adapts stories of Chekhov or of Indian writers, he makes the characters credible. That’s why his signature productions like Begum Ka Takia, Ek Ruka Hua Faisla and Court Martial stay in the minds of viewers years after these were staged. Theatre might be a flight of fantasy, but he reasons, "It’s also sach jaisa, and often about desired reality." His concern as a theatre person is one should feel as a human being for another human being. The USP of all performing arts, he believes, is whether they appeal to the heart and mind. He says, "Dil se dimaag tak or dimaag se dil tak`85the route doesn’t matter. What does matter is whether you have struck the right chord." That he finds the perfect connect each time was evident from the string of plays he brought to Chandigarh recently.
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IN a way life has come
full circle for thespian theatre-person Ranjit Kapoor. Back in the
1970s, when he passed out of the hallowed portals of the National
School of Drama (NSD), he wanted to devote a lifetime to theatre.
Alas, exigencies of life and the difficulties he had to face as a
freelance theatre director forced him to move to Mumbai while his
heart was all the while in Delhi. Today as he is moving around with
NSD’s repertory company with plays like Chekhov Ki Duniya, Adamzad
and Panchlight, he says, "Doing theatre in Mumbai was
difficult. The professional actors I wanted to work with were either
too busy with television or with films."