Chat with directing team and actors of SBAGD

Transcribed by :
Divya Mendiratta
Gauri:  Welcome everybody to Foundations TV. We are so excited to be here today at Jawed ji’s studio, with a fantastic team of actors as well as the direction team of Sahib, Bibi aur Guru Dutt show, which is going to be on Sept 7^th. So we are very excited first of all to start with Meena who is going to introduce some of the cast here.

Meena: Thank you Gauri, and thank you Foundations TV for another opportunity to speak to all of you. So as you know Sahib, Bibi aur Guru Dutt the musical is an event that’s coming at Keefe Tech school auditorium on Sept 7^th. We have tried to put posters, fliers and Facebook messages everywhere so please check it out, and please do come and enjoy the show. I’m so happy to be working with this great team of members, including the directorial team today and the actors. There are many people, all of whom are not present today. So this is just a jhalak (glimpse) of what you will be seeing in the upcoming event. So what would you like to know about the event Gauri?

Gauri:  I would actually like to know a little bit about our director Ram. I know there is a story behind how you know him, and how he is the right choice for being the director of this fantastic show. So please do introduce him, and please do let us know how you found him.

Meena:  Actually, Ram is relatively new to this audience in terms of musical or music based shows. But he has a long association with drama and acting. I’ve know him for over 20 years, I think Ram. We met in a Tamil drama scene where he was a director and I was apparently an actress. That’s what he says, I told him I had a non-speaking role, he said no I had few lines.

Ram: Some funny lines.

Meena:  When this event came up, obviously we were deciding how to proceed, and what our team members need to be. One thing really attracted me to Ram in terms of doing this…. I should actually goes back, we did work on a project in 2008 which was called Meera Bai the Musical, which was music on the life of Meera Bai which was directed by Ram, with lot of children acting. So, to come back to now, he is a music buff and a movie buff, and he just loves and we’ve had long discussions about movies and directions and different classes of movies. Since this musical is about the movie director, and it had lot of movie trivia and clips, scene, Ram really came to mind. And when I spoke to him, he was enthusiastic, he sort of knew about this project past few years peripherally, but then he got more involved as we got closer. Here he is, our director, Ram Rama Krishnan. 

Ram:  Hello, I’m a little nervous. So I’m going to stumble a little. Forgive me, I’m the director not an actor. When Meena approached me about this project, I was little hesitant in the beginning for two reasons. One I was an outsider like Meena said, and I wasn’t sure what her vision was in the beginning. But when she told me that she is looking for more than a musical. She was looking for drama with music in it, and that got me little excited. I think the challenge of bringing his life down to stage, and still keep intact all the 19 to 20 songs that going to be sung live and bring all of them seamlessly together, I thought was a good challenge, and I was excited to be part of that. Another thing was I was inspired by the movie Amadeus, which was originally a Broadway play. It was made into an Oscar winning movie, about the life of another musical genius, Mozart. Who passed away at the age of 31. And the movie showed his life through his music. And I felt this is, in a way a good way to do that, bring Guru Dutt’s life through his movies and his music. It’s been a very rewarding experience for me already, because coming in as an outsider like I said it’s been a great experience. I have been working with very dedicated talented people. So I’m looking forward to successful completion of this project, so to speak.

Speaking of making new friends I would like to introduce Kumkum. I’ve got to know her already and view her as a friend already. She is the stage director for the play. She and I are already working close together.

Kumkum:  Thank you Ram. What would you like to know Gauri?

Gauri:  I would like to know, what is unique about this particular show for you. I have personally worked with you on other shows. You are such a brilliant person behind stage.  I have seen the effects of that brilliance show on stage. And all the rehearsals your inputs are very - very specific, very clear, and to the point and so effective. So I’ve had a great journey with you all through different shows, but what I want to hear from you, of course you bring all the talent and skill with you, what is it that is unique to you in this particular show.

Kumkum:  Well this is a very unique show. We are fortunate to be in an area, where we have a glut of shows. But what is unique to me about this show, is the vision behind this show. I’ve have known Meena for a very long time, and this has been something that has been dear to her heart. What’s become very unique in my role in this, is the involvement with so many aspects, so many details to pull together, so usually as stage director, people usually know me as a MC but I’m shifting into stage direction, you pretty much are responsible for making sure that what the audience seems in front of them is a seamless coordination. But when you have a show which has singing, acting, and I won’t give too much away some other stuff too, then it becomes very important to understand the vision of the director and do stage direction in a way where that is pulled in too. And Ram is really inspiring. He has been very inspiring and he has made me remember long lost acting days, college days. And it has been a pleasure so far, I’ve enjoyed working with you.

Gauri: That is such a sweet and special thing to say. I think at this time we will take a short break.

Interlude

Gauri:  Welcome back everybody, Meena, I’ll actually hand over the mic to you to introduce the actors.

Meena:  Thanks again Gauri. Nice to be back. So, our acting team is a very large one and constitutes a lot people playing roles of people that you’ve seen on screen and behind the screen all of whom were associated with Guru Dutt ji and his films. So I want to actually start with Shekhar ji, Shekhar Shastri. Who is an extremely erudite, I would say scholarly, though he might not like it, personality in this area. He is a poet, he is an actor, he is writer and there is more to him than even I know. So I’ll have him speak a little bit about his experience and role in Sahib, Bibi and Guru Dutt, The Musical.

Shekhar:  Thank you Meena. When Meena brought up this ideas of doing this show, I was already contemplating doing one on Guru Dutt. I’ve been obsessed with Guru Dutt for the longest time, as far I can remember from my childhood. And as I was growing up and became interested in literature and writing, The Vijay of Pyasa was always, the arc type poet. So I have been singing the songs from Guru Dutt movies for a long time. And the role of the poet in the society has never been brought up as well as was brought up in Pyasa by Guru Dutt. And subsequently, there is another aspect of Guru Dutt which attracted me to becoming interested in this particular show and performing in this very exciting show, is that Guru Dutt was a master of presenting relationships that were never consummated, yet profound and immensely beautiful. And so this is quite a privilege to belong to this fabulous team. And thank you Meena, Ram, Kumkum and rest of the team.

Meena: Great, you are so welcome. And please come and watch Shekhar in action on Sept 7^th. I’m going to move on now to Pallavi, Pallavi Nagesha, who is a dancer, she’s an actor, and has many other talents. She is also a choreographer. She helped in direction of many events. She is an interesting lady, because I don’t know her very well, but we did meet and participate in couple of shows actually with Shekhar Shastri Ji. She really strikes me as a very intense person, I would really say a woman of substance. So she got a role that is quite interesting and I think you will really again enjoy watching her in our event.

Pallavi: Thank you Meena, I’m awfully humbled by that introduction. I should first thank you for giving me this opportunity and I really appreciate it. I know we’ve had long conversations about this, and I’m glad it came to be this way. It’s a wonderful team, I think the singers are amazing, all the acting and directing that I’ve seen thus far has been really good. So it’s going to be a very-very good show. And.. My sort of affair, romance with Guru Dutt began when I was really very young, about 7-8 when I saw Pyasa. I instantly fell in love with this man, even today tell my husband, had I the chance he would be the one. But what was interesting, which also later became a paper for my film appreciation class, was his use of light and darkness. And I was always amazed by the shadows he created and how he use the light to not just portray mood and emotion but the character themselves. And it’s not the different characters are light or darkness, it’s the same character, it’s the same person can be light and darkness. And he expertly used his light to portray that, and I’m always amazed how well he does that. And the roles I’m performing are again both light and darkness and I’m really excited to switch from one to another , and in fact in some of them switch in between from one to another. And it’s a great challenge, and everybody guiding me, Ram has been amazing telling me what to do and how to do it. And Shekhar also has been helping me out. And it will be an amazing show and I’m sure all of will come and will have a great grand time. And we will learn that it’s not just the movie, it’s everything that goes in between. It’s just like a book, you read between the lines and that’s what you get.

Meena:  Great!! Thanks Pallavi. And now to our dear friend Gauri. Gauri has played a very big role not only on stage, probably a bigger role off stage. She’s been such a huge help as you know with Foundations TV assisting our event, supporting our event. We do appreciate all you have done and continuing to do for us. On stage Gauri is playing a very interesting role, she’s got a great personality I think people have seen her before on stage in Madhubala etc. and I’ll ask her what she thinks about the event and her role in the event.

Gauri:  I, for one, besides what you just said Meena, about the back stage and the Foundations TV association which is a whole long story, but I won’t go over there yet. Of course that has been a lot of fun. But I think I’m super excited to be on stage for this one, especially because the character that I’m portraying is of a girl who is very bubbly, full of herself, full of  life kind of a person, and I can actually relate to her in some ways in some phases of my life, and she seems to be a little naïve and little spoilt. So it’s a character where you can never over do the expression, as much as u put into it, will always fall in the right place. So, I think that’s what makes it so much fun performing on stage for this particular character and I’m really-really looking forward to do this, and seeing how everybody else enjoys me on the stage. And this whole show is coming together beautifully. Really excited for it.

Meena :  Thank you so much Gauri! And again as I mentioned there are many actors in our event who are not able to here today. Please check out their names on the flier you’ll see many familiar and friendly faces and names there, so you can find out what roles they are playing as well.

Gauri:  Switching my hat now over as the host of this show from Foundations TV. I would like to thank the entire team, the directions team and as well as the actors who are present here. And Meena, Jawed ji and the camera person Ansh for this particular show, for making this happen. I think this has been one of the best shows of Foundations TV so far. Thank you so much all of you. Thank you so much for coming. We wish you all the best for the show.