Shakespearewallahs cast a spell
A lazy wintry evening. Coffee House in Hazratganj, Lucknow. Two of Junoon’s actors discuss essentials of life. They concur that they should “do theatre together”. That was 1977. Thirty-two years since then, Naseeruddin Shah and Benjamin Gilani have a big reason to celebrate. Their Motley theatre group completes 30 years and continues to be the forerunner among Indian theatre groups. They have performed solo shows like Ismat Apa Ke Naam and Julius Ceasar, a gargantuan production with a cast of 70-plus all over India and abroad - the US, UK, Germany, Holland and Dubai. But what drew two FTII ( Film and Television Institute of India) graduates to theatre at all? “It certainly has to do with Jennifer Kapoor’s parents’ theatre group Shakespearewallah playing at our respective schools. I used to study in Shimla where I had just handled a bit of backstage when Shakespearwallahs came visiting. They opened a whole new exciting world for me. It was like Alibaba’s cave,” reminisces Gilani, adding that Naseer also came under the Shakespearewallah spell while schooling in Nainital. Gilani and Shah joined hands to launch Motley.

Two men and a tree
“We had no money and no girls to launch a production with,” Gilani narrates dramatically,” So we hit upon Samuel Beckett’s classic Waiting For Godot. All we needed was a tree and two men.” The play has two characters, Vladimir and Estragon wait for someone named Godot. There is only one scene throughout both acts. Two men are waiting on a country road by a tree. Godot has a metaphorical connotation. Produced at a shoestring budget of Rs 500, it was first staged at Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai. “It was easy to manage as the costumes were supposed to be old, tattered clothes - and we used our own!” relates Gilani. Shah recalls how noted cinematographer Sameer Arya had played the 10-year-old boy’s part in the play then, “Once he fell asleep and we had to omit his entry,” he guffaws.

What takes a horse to the water?
Shah gets emotionally charged up when he’s questioned about squandering his star-status on theatre activities, he thunders, “Film acting is the most boring job in the world. If it didn’t pay - would I do it? You end up spending half your life waiting in your fancy, AC vans waiting for the shot!” So what draws him to the theatre? “What takes a horse to the water?” he counters with a gleam in his eye,”Theatre is the most pleasurable activity for me,” he asserts. Not surprising then if he and Gilani are raring to revive Waiting For Godot with Ranadeep Hooda and Akash Khurana. It will be the closing play of the two-month-long Motley festival in Mumbai. “The most amazing quality of my father is that he’s never complacent. He’s always improving and it’s simply amazing to watch him,” avers daughter Heeba Shah. Gilani adds that Waiting For Godot is the most evolving play in their repertoire. “Something new turns up each time we stage it,” he points out.

Win some, lose some
Motley members survey the past 30 years as a journey together that has helped each of them understand the art and craft of acting. Ratna Pathak Shah became a part of Motley after she came into Shah’s life 28 years ago, “Everything I know about acting is all thanks to Naseer and Satyadev Dubey,” she acknowledges,”This is an ongoing process of growth of as an actor,” she adds. The Ismat Apa Ke Naam episode, Moghul Bachcha is her most rewarding work “all pleasure, hardly any work,” is how she puts it. Her most tragic theatre experience has been Bernard Shaw’s Don Juan In Hell. “It was my most dreadful performance,” she confesses.

Gilani says that the 30 years at Motley have been mostly rewarding but the journey has had its downs as well, “I remember shows when there were just 30 heads in the audience and it was heartbreaking when none of the schools in Mumbai were willing to patronise Julius Caesar that was a part of their curriculum,” he grimaces. Likewise, for Shah, Julius Caesar proved to be the most challenging play because it was the “most difficult to manage” and yet “it didn’t succeed”.

Classics re-interpreted
The biggest criticism levelled against Motley initially was that their productions were “way too intellectual and elitist”. But Motley held their own and adapted works of literary greats like Premchand, Saadat Hasan Manto, Haruki Murakami, Italo Calvino, Khalil Gibran, Chekov, Neil Simon and of course, Shakespeare. “We re-interpreted many classics and presented those before the audience,” says Gilani. As Ratna Pathak Shah says,”Naseer knows the nuts and bolts of a performance and he passes it on us and subsequently to the audience.”

Business of enriching the kitty
It is interesting to note that each Motley member from Naseeruddin Shah to the newest rookie aboard is paid precisely Rs 300 towards conveyance, “The rest of the collections go to our kitty,”declares Jairaj Patil, the producer who doubles up as the sound and set designer, “When we started out, the compensation was Rs 50 only,” he discloses further. But that hasn’t stopped fresher crop of zealots from joining Motley, “After all, it’s a hands-on training,” reasons Randeep Hooda. “I am Motley’s child as far as acting is concerned. My association with Naseerbhai dates back to Monsoon Wedding. I hit Mumbai after that and started modelling. But I wanted to pursue acting and when I wanted to join Motely, they told me work backstage! I was taken aback first but managed the lights and sound in the first play and finally graduated to doing four plays–Manto ...Ismat Haazir Hain, Safaid Jhoot Kali Shalwaar, The Prophet and now Waiting For Godot,” he relates with pride.

Patil adds that Motely has staged plays from a small Konkan town Kankavali to all Indian metros, Bonn in Germany, Amsterdam in Netherlands, London, USA and Dubai. “Ismat Apa..., ...Godot, Dear Liar and Katha Kollage are our toppers,” he enumerates. The 30th anniversary Motley Festival spanning over two months and three venues across Mumbai will cost Rs 18-20 lakh.