Myth as reality

Monica Arora

The vivacious and extremely multi-faceted actress Mahnaz Damania was born to a Parsi family. In her own words, she loves “food, music and every form of entertainment out there.” Owing to her quest to make peoples’ stories heard, she has dabbled in theatre as well as been associated with disadvantaged kids in Mumbai. Excerpts from an interview.

From a student of psychology at St Xavier’s, Ahmedabad, to the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York, how has the learning curve shaped your evolution as an actor and as a human being?

The opportunity to forget your own issues and step into the world of another person (while still keeping a little bit of your insanity) has always intrigued me. I was a part of the drama club in high school and college, and ever since I can recall, being on stage has kept my life boat afloat. Everything I did as a professional actor when I began was thanks to my training at The Stella Adler Studio in New York. But what took me there was my experience in the theatre from school and college. Some of the most helpful techniques for me to date, though, come from Adler. From essaying the part of an entitled spoilt brat in Agatha Christie plays that we performed in school and college to playing a Valium-addicted Mormon at Adler, to being Shikhandi, it has all been a welcome challenge.

Do you believe that studying human psychology enables one to tackle and play diverse characters?

I think just general existence has taught me that! At Adler, we learnt the importance of being observant in our everyday life. Our experiences inform our choices as artists. Also, people reveal so much more about themselves through day to day interaction. It’s highly entertaining! Studying psychology helped me to a certain extent. And right now I am enjoying a more physical approach to storytelling, stemming from observation than just theory from a classroom. I loved my teachers though. Most of them were great.

Besides playing Shikhandi, what have been your other involvements as a theatre artist?

07/07/07 directed by Faezeh Jalali was my first play as a professional theatre artiste on the Indian stage. Being a devised ensemble piece, we were seven actors playing Reyhaneh Jabbari (a character like Shikhandi). I was also on the ensemble of women for Naqqaash directed by Rajit Kapur, which was also an immense learning experience! Crumpled: A Compilation of 5 Imperfect Love Stories, Three Women and Sundays with Chitra and Chaitali are some of the other plays I have been a part of in India. While I was in New York, I had the opportunity to be on an off- broadway production of Sakharam Binder. We performed an experimental rendition, adapted for the American audience.

The character of Shikhandi in the Mahabharata is that of a transgender. It evolved very poignantly from the character of Amba in an earlier birth, to avenge her rejection by Bhishma. However, your play Shikhandi has a contemporary, and almost comical, feel to it. What research went into playing it?

We fear and reject what we don’t understand. The problem is sometimes we don’t even try to broaden our horizons. Also, we’re faster to hate and not educate. I know it sounds preachy but it’s so true! The play is a satire. It makes us laugh at ourselves, our insecurities, our indecisiveness and shows us that we too exist in states of “in-between”. But, from the mythology of the Mahabharata to the reality that exists in 2018, how far have we truly come? We still have the closeted husband with his full blown happy family in tow, women who don’t even know that they might have an alternative sexual preference and transgendered people who exist on the fringes of our society. So, other than reading up on Shikhandi, drawing relevance with our times and finding those similarities helped immensely.

From theatre to Bollywood, your oeuvre has spanned a multi-dimensional range. How did you manage to perform the role of Alia’s sister in Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania with equal ease?

Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania was my first film. So, I was very nervous on the first day of shoot! But our director (Shashank Khaitan) made the ride a lot easier. Swati and Mahnaz are two very different people. I’ve been told I have more aggressive body language for a female, but being in costume for Swati helped find her vulnerability a little bit faster. The bangles, flowing dupattas, kurtis and Patiala salwar felt a little cumbersome, but it demanded grace and I got into the flow of things in no time.

Which are the new projects you are currently working on?

I’m working on a web show that’s scheduled to shoot in Goa. Other than that, I also dabble in regional content. I am from Ahmedabad originally, so I do Gujarati web work for the Untypical Channel on YouTube.

How easy is it to step in and out of the mindset of a character?

It depends on so many different things honestly. Your role, co-actors, director and, most importantly, one’s own state of mind. There have been times when I’ve read a part and thought, “I got this.” But in the doing of it I’ve realised, “Nope, not there yet.”

Which actor(s) do you look up to?

I can only speak from experience and Faezeh Jalali is an actor I look up to. She is one of the most conscientious artists’ I know.