For those who believe in serious acting theatre is the most fulfilling medium. Naseeruddin Shah belongs to this breed. Every now and then, Naseer takes a sabbatical from his humdrum career in Bollywood to keep in touch with what he calls his ‘first love’ – theatre.
His theatre company, christened Motley crew, has regularly done productions of Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’, Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’ and Neil Simon’s ‘The Odd Couple’ among others.
Of late, Naseer was occupied with Naushil Mehta-scripted Hindi play ‘Khel’ which the cognoscenti lauded as “a riveting comic thriller” and “a humdinger of a play.” Naseer played the finely etched character of JJ, a fifty-plus asthmatic writer who hates his wife and unleashes his petulance over trivialities. “The play,” opines Naseer, “was a combination of great script, two good actors (him and Paresh Rawal), and good timing.”
The buzz now is that, in the coming days, Naseer will be heading to Paris to attend a 5-month workshop along with Peter Brooks to study Shakespeare and give shape to their next production ‘Hamlet’. He is also slated to do another play to be directed by Waman Kendre.
It is quite laudable the way Naseer has balanced his career. While on one hand he has kept himself gainfully employed in mainstream cinema, on the other he has made repeated forays into theatre to gratify the actor in him.
For those who believe in serious acting theatre is the most fulfilling medium. Naseeruddin Shah belongs to this breed. Every now and then, Naseer takes a sabbatical from his humdrum career in Bollywood to keep in touch with what he calls his ‘first love’ – theatre.