Chat with the actors of upcoming show Shah Jahan

Transcribed by : Sunayana Kachroo

Gauri: Welcome to The Foundations TV. We have a group of talented actors who are going to be performing in “Shah Jahan” which is an upcoming show from Sept 27^th through 29^th.  We hope to see all of you there and to get that excitement going we have with us, some youthful energy of some young actors who are performing in the show. We will start by welcoming Priya to our interview today. Priya I would love to hear from  you what role you are playing in Shah Jahan and what is exciting to you about acting.

Priya: I am playing the role of Nadira, who is wife of Dara Shikoh, who is the eldest son of Shah Jahan. What I love about acting.: So, I got introduced to acting a year back when I started to volunteer for SETU. When you are in college you do so many things. I used to dance, I would do other things but I never attempted to act even though I had the desire to. So with this opportunity I had the platform to portray this side of me, sort of hone this side which I always wanted to.It just brings out a lot in me,  just remembering the dialogues, delivering it on stage. There is lot of stage fright I used to have and it sort of has helped me conquer that. Then I did a little part in Mahabharat last year and now I am doing this role. I am really excited about it. Its really a contrasting role. It is contrasting to my personality because Nadira is a very loving wife, very devoted and she has this sense of helplessness in the entire play. She wants something but she cannot get it. I feel it’s a matter of that time, that period as men were supposed to lead, they would be warriors, they would make decisions and now its all so different so its challenging that way because I have to think differently.

Gauri: I am sure. Looks like it’s been quite a journey for you, coming from no acting experience to coming on stage and learning so much not just about acting but also about the character as well as growing as a person. That’s excellent. So that leads us right into what I would like to hear from Vihangi who is also a new actress. This is the first time I believe you are acting.

Vihangi: The Very first time

Gauri: Oh my God, are you excited?

Vihangi: I am excited, I am nervous but I am hoping all my stage fright goes away because I always wanted to do this. I got this chance thank to Subrata and SETU. I am really excited and I really love the character that I am playing because it is kind of my personality too. I am shown to be pretty strong-willed  throughout the play and that’s the kind of person I am , so thankfully I didn’t have to do what she is doing (Priya playing Nadira). So that makes it easier for me to act.

Gauri: What role are you playing?

Vihangi: I am playing the role of Jaharat Unnisa who is the daughter of Dara and Nadira and grand daughter of Shah Jahan

Gauri: So are you excited about the costumes and the glory and glamour associated with this role?

Vihangi: Absolutely! It was my dream to be a princess.

Gauri: Wonderful. We also have Aaditya on my left hand side who has performed before with SETU in Mahabharat . He was Karan and now if you can share with us what role you are playing and how different is that from what you have done before?

Aaditya: I got associated with SETU last year and I got the role that I really liked to play that is “Karna” and that is one character in Mahabharat that’s really intriguing. Here I am playing the role of Suleman who is Dara Shikoh and Nadira’s elder son, and Shah Jahan’s eldest grandson. There are similarities in both the characters, both Karna and Suleman. The way I read about it is :- both are people who blindly follow ideologies. They are both extremely principled people which, apparently in Mahabharat as well as here, doesn’t really benefit them. They are at the losing end. That was one particular attribute that was very similar between both the characters.

Gauri: I love the depth with which you are analyzing both the characters. And of course there is a fun aspect to it which I have seen in the rehearsal where all the beautiful women are dancing in front of you. So share something about that. How exciting is that for you?

Aaditya: Interestingly that is the only scene that relaxed for me in the entire play. I am either in the war field or I am trapped in the Jail.

Gauri: I just happened to see that one scene.

Aaditya: I think it is at the rehearsal stage right now so its very hilarious. As you know I am supposed to be mesmerized by these women which I am, because our  troupe is doing a wonderful job with dance and choreography and we have this scene where I am trying to repel one of the dancers. It is funny when you are doing this because there are long dialogues and things that we typically have not said. It is funny because that’s the only part where we get to have a chuckle at the end of it. At least for my role.

Gauri: Wonderful , so there is lot of fun associated with rehearsing for such a serious theme. Thank you. Now lets welcome Yusuf. He is youngest artist in the team and that I am sure, is very very inspiring to anybody who is going to watch this video , who is of your age and children who are going to come and watch the play as well. So my question you is ….what role are you playing and how is it working with all these grownups?

Yusuf: I play the role of Sipar Shikoh , son of Dara and grandson of Shah Jahan. First of all working with these people was really bad, they are terrible ( Laughter)…No no not really.. I am just kidding. These guys are awesome, they are so nice to me and working with them is great . I have done school plays and school musicals and working with kids of my age and then with these guys, it’s a huge maturity level difference. I mean I can talk to different people and I can learn to talk to adults and interact with them and make new friends . Its amazing here and to all you kids out there I sincerely suggest you come here and sign up because it’s a great opportunity.

Gauri:  I love that, I love that aspect of what you just said. Is there an interesting incident that you would like to share with us that happened during rehearsals.

Yusuf: There was  one scene (laughter)..

Yusuf: He  ( Suleman) looks in the distance and says “Sipar” my brother and I do this ( the sign of brotherhood in US..crossing the heart and flying a kiss ).

Aaditya: We are trying to introduce that into the play. But I don’t know how Subrata is going to take it.

Yusuf: Hopefully !

Dhanashree: Looks pretty cool

Gauri : You might able to convince him. Ok great. Thank you so much for sharing all that and Dhanashree I think I will let you take the lead now and add something to having Yusuf in the team what does that mean and how interesting that is?

Dhanashree: Of course its been very interesting. It i not like having a kid around because he can carry on a conversation on anything under the sun and just like adults. So its just wonderful knowing him and some of us have a plan, whenever we have kids to send them to his mom.

Yusuf: No no do not send kids to my mom, that’s a nightmare. (laughter) I am just kidding.

Gauri: Alright,  coming to your role specifically, I have seen you perform as Draupadi in Mahabharat. That was  such a serious and an impactful role and very beautifully portrayed ,of course. Tell us something about your role in Shah Jahan and how it relates to what your previous role was?

Dhanashree : I am playing the role of Queen Mahamaya. She is  wife of king Jaswant Singh. I think this role is very much similar to the role of Draupadi that I played before in Mahabharat. They both had similar challenges in front of them, they both loved their husband very much  but they had this huge responsibility to make their husband aware of what mistakes they are making and at the same time inspire them and motivate them to do the right thing. All this time there is this underlying expression of unconditional love. I think that was very complicated for me to learn at the time of Mahabharat and it was great growth for me as person and the growth continues with this role.

Gauri: Beautiful! Beautiful! So from what I hear by talking to each one of you, this journey has been a give and take. You are putting in so much energy , your youthful energy, into this whole process and you are also getting lot of learnings from this. You are maturing from this process and you are learning a lot about different characters. There is depth in each and every character so looks like each one of you have put time and effort  to learn and somehow will be able to implement it in your lives later on. It has been great chatting with all of you. Thank you so much for being here.