A hard act to follow

Anjana Rajan

A life in theatre has never been synonymous with guaranteed incomes and risk-free investment. But digitised, globalising India has brought a new prosperity among the educated elite. heir increasing willingness to spend on entertainment, along with a rising appreciation for theatre as a recreational and personality-enhancing option, has brought money into an art once considered rich only in terms of its history and literature. Is this prosperity, however, reaching the practitioners? A number of veteran theatre personalities agree there are more earning opportunities today than, say, 25 or 30 years ago. But artistically it is a mixed blessing.

“There are definitely many more avenues in theatre today than there were in the eighties,” says award-winning actor Neeta Mohindra. “But, even today, to survive on theatre alone is not possible without actually becoming the ‘feudal’ director who exploits the actors and the team. Theatre groups are either supported by incomes generated from some other source or by grants.”

While theatre workshops are popular, Amritsar-based Mohindra asks, “How many of the people who attend these workshops actually practise theatre? People are spending a lot on entertainment, but sadly theatre is not just an entertainment, it goes beyond.”

Eminent director Tripurari Sharma, professor of acting at the National School of Drama, New Delhi, points out that the opportunities are present “for those who can take them or make them.”

She notes, “Often theatre practitioners need time to respond to such shifts. A good actor maybe a shy teacher and may take time to develop this faculty. A few years ago theatre for children caught everyone’s imagination. Workshops worked for children, added to their growth. Today such workshops are happening in the metropolis, some for children who already have their hands full with activities. However, it is true that there is a class in the affluent metros who can pay.”

Pointing to a significant sign of the times, she says, “What is emerging is a new kind of event management that is beginning to handle these activities on a bigger and a more polished scale. They hire theatre people for creative inputs, but the major share of the earnings does not come to people from theatre. The big players coming in do not often understand creative processes. Also, often clients are happy just to have a taste of a workshop and a notion of participation without breaking their comfort zone. So often the process stops short of its potential. But where all theatre practitioners are genuinely involved the results are more fulfilling.”

Countering the trend of expensive workshops cashing in on the dreams of youngsters, Kewal Dhaliwal, founder, Manch Rangmanch, says his group’s annual theatre workshop charges no fees, with even accommodation and boarding being provided free.

If more shows and festivals mean greater income opportunities, says Sharma, the needs and cost of living too have increased. Besides, she remarks, “For trainers, directors, backstage hands, designers, musicians there are good returns. Actors work harder and longer and the returns do not match, except for the few in commercial setups.” More grants being available eases the situation. “Yet, often, actors need to take on serials, etc. This gives both money and broader It is because of their acting talent and skill that these opportunities come their way.”

Mohindra adds, “To get good sponsorship for a play becomes so easy if you have a film personality in the cast.”

Noted Jammu-based actor Kusum Tickoo is more blunt: “Theatre is a stepping stone for Bollywood, so that has brought in prosperity.”

Dhaliwal says he has avoided film and TV assignments for over two decades, but he maintains, “I don’t think anyone would earn from films and invest it in theatre. It’s an individual choice and I don’t mind. No doubt, there is less money in theatre, but I think people should stop complaining.”

Tickoo, currently shooting for Rajeev Gupta’s Dogri feature film, thinks perhaps “0.02 or 0.03 per cent” of artists would give up a film offer for the stage. “For their survival they have to do something. It may not be their choice anymore.”

Sharma, who wrote the dialogue for the acclaimed film Hazaar Chaurasi ki Maa, feels serials, in particular , “do not tap even one tenth” of an actor’s potential. “A creative actor often remains dissatisfied and tries to keep up with theatre. It is not about loyalty, but creative pull.”

Some 10 out of 20 members of the Amritsar-based Manch Rangmanch earn solely from theatre work. But across the country, many theatre practitioners, including acclaimed directors, are employed elsewhere and only donate their passion to the art.

As for the notion that putting one’s skills to use in activities not considered within the ambit of theatre — such as voiceovers, news reading, compering and the like — differentiates one from the 'pure' practitioners, Sharma believes, “Doing other things does not reduce their stature. Exposure if handled maturely always adds up. Theatre as a form can absorb other influences and may not be that pure a form.”

Mohindra echoes this view. “They are all different mediums. Like if I am a painter and I work in oils it does not make me a pure painter, and if I work in mixed media it does not make me impure.”

Be that as it may, Dhaliwal is upbeat about theatre across Punjab. He credits the ordinary people — in gurdwaras and village organisations, for example — for providing a solid support base to theatre in the state. Currently Chairman, Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi, he candidly declares that “the Punjab Government has zero per cent role” to play in this healthy situation. In Amritsar alone, he says, there are eight well-made auditoriums built without government help. “If you look at the fund allocation from the Union Ministry of Culture, you will find very few Punjab groups are receiving money, whereas from some states you will find 50 to 100 groups receiving grants.”

It is not often one hears of this level of social backing for the arts. In contrast, Tickoo describes a “loss of connectivity between the buyers and sellers of theatre.”

Mohindra feels, “Ticketed shows are the only option to make theatre self-reliant, and then there is always a thin line between ‘popular’ and serious theatre.”

Sharma sums it up, “If stage actors could have the physical, artistic, financial space to devote themselves completely to their calling, we would be able to reach great heights of excellence. This is certainly most desirable.”

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A school for drama

As the country’s apex training institute for theatre professionals, New Delhi’s National School of Drama, a government-funded body, is often under fire. Among the chief complaints is that a budget of crores of rupees supports an institution where a selected few students, instead of paying fees, receive a stipend to study theatre in depth, only for a large number of them to enter commercial cinema and television.

NSD’s current director, Waman Kendre, himself an alumnus of the school and a successful director in Marathi and Hindi, says while actual numbers have never been calculated, there was an informal stocktaking at the time of NSD’s golden jubilee (2009).

People tend to remember only those who rise in commercial cinema, but, he says, “So many students do go to their states and do a lot of theatre. For example, in the Northeast region, most of the alumni are in theatre. In Jammu and Kashmir and in Punjab, too, they are reputed.” Others perform equally important functions in teaching and academics, he adds.

In states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, and Karnataka among others, it is possible to “very respectably” earn through theatre. Plus, in the last 55 years, the NSD’s training and quality have been recognised, Kendre maintains. “The credit goes to the NSD and also those who went out and created that faith, the directors and the actors.” 

To help young professionals – alumni and non-alumni – the NSD provides schemes like extension programmes, fellowships and scholarships. “But it’s not possible for an institution to create a support system for all alumni all their lives, because it is expected they will become leaders.”

There is also the NSD Repertory, the Theatre in Education (Sanskar Rang Toli) initiative and festivals supported by the NSD across the country. “The entire fraternity is expecting that the NSD should do everything, but it requires a strong financial support,” he points out.

Meanwhile, there are plans to start training centres in other states. These will create more professionals as well as employment opportunities, he remarks. While the NSD’s centres in Bengaluru, Agartala and Sikkim are functional, talks have been on with Maharashtra for some years now. Requests are pending from West Bengal, J&K, Chhattisgarh and others. “But you cannot start everything at the same time.”