When Pradhan ji comes calling

Saumya Singh

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Raghubir Yadav can take criticism as well as he takes praise. The Pradhan ji of Panchayat, who staged his play Piano at the Tagore Theatre on Sunday and followed it with an interactive session called Vaqtavya on Monday morning, told a critic who pointed out a few inconsistencies in the play, an adaptation of Ferenc Karinthy’s French play Steinway Grand,“Kuch cheezein maafi maangne ke liye bhi toh honi chahiye (some things should be left to beg apologies)”

But then Yadav has been a student of Ebrahim Alkazi at the National School of Drama, a teacher known for his work ethics and humility. He has not forgotten what Alkazi had told him once when he made an excuse to stay away from his class, “agar marna bhi ho, toh kaam karte hue maro”.

There is another thing he has not forgotten. A five-minute-long recital from Laila Majnu, a play which he did years ago and regaled his audience during the session.

The NSD shaped his sensibilities, but then Yadav’s association with theatre started even before he entered the campus of the drama school. He ran away from his home years ago to make a mark for himself.

“I worked with a theatre company in Bhopal for Rs 2.50 per day after I ran away from hometown, Jabalpur. I worked there for about six years and that was the best time of my life,” he says. For him more than a struggling phase, it was a learning process. He says, “Jo cheez asaani se mile, usme mazaa bhi kahan rehta hai (anything gained with ease does not give much pleasure).”

There was a time when Yadav used to reject certain characters. Now, he has learnt to enjoy each and every aspect of his work without thinking about the kind of role it is. Neither the box-office numbers nor the dividing line between art cinema and parallel cinema bother him much. His logic is, “If a film with an Rs 400 crore budget earns Rs 200 crore, and an Rs 50 lakh budget film earns Rs 2 crore, which one is more commercial?”

But as much as we love Raghubir Yadav the actor, his first love was not acting. “There was a papadwala, who passed our house singing when I was young, he was my first guru and music was my first love; but if I had told him that, he would’ve forgotten how to sell papad only,” he laughs. Yadav is of the opinion that one can, and should, learn from every single thing happening around them.

It is not the first time that Raghubir has performed in Chandigarh. He came by a while ago for another play. “The people that I have met here are so khoobsurat. No wonder the city is called City Beautiful. Everyone here has made all my visits worthwhile,” he says.