On the occasion of World Theatre Day on Thursday, actress Pallavi Joshi recalled her memories and said that in Maharashtra, theatre has survived because it’s easy on the pocket to buy tickets.
“The whole mathematics of theatre is very different. Theatre has survived in Maharashtra because it’s easy on the pocket to buy tickets. When the ticket prices are low, the collection is lower, which means the share of actors’ money and the margin of producers profit is also on the lower side. It is a sad state of affairs,” Pallavi said.
She said that she finds scores of extremely talented yet grossly underpaid actors in theatre.
“Their value addition to any play is invaluable. Yet it seldom translates in their paycheck. The bigger stars still manage to make some money, but the rest of them still need to depend on a regular job to get by, and treat theatre as a hobby.”
World Theatre Day was initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute. Various national and international theatre events are organized to mark this occasion.
The actress credits her directors from theatre days for honing her skills.
“Lots of memories from the days of theatre. It won’t be wrong to say that I was honed by the best directors during my theatre days. I was plain lucky to work with maverick directors like Arvind Deshpande, Dilip Kolhatkar and Amol Palekar.”
She said that Dilip Kolhatkar made her aware of her “strengths as an actor.”
“Arvind Deshpande taught me the magic of interpretation. While Amol Palekar taught me the most invaluable lesson. ‘What not to do’. He also made me realise my weaknesses. Therefore, I could broaden my horizons. These were absolute masterclass sessions in acting.”
Talking about her favourite plays, she said: “I don’t think I can really say which one was my favourite, but I think I grew as an actor playing Kinni in Mukhavte, Vijay Tendulkar’s Marathi adaptation of Mohan Rakesh’s famous Hindi play Aadhe Adhure.”
She also said that theatre experience is quite fulfilling in itself.
‘I think it’s best to leave it as is. Once you introduce external additions like lighting effects and holograms etc, the whole focus shifts on the assets. Theatre is about gripping dialogues, great storyline and live performances. That is exactly what should remain.”
“But of course more can be done for the sustenance of the theatre people. And not just the actors but the people behind the stage, the makeup artists, wardrobe in-charge and of course the backstage workers.”
