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Mime time Kaladhar as Mr. Bean.

The make-up, the expressions and the mannerisms are all similar, except that Kaladhar is not the original Rowan Atkinson, but is the original ‘Indian’ Mr. Bean.

Originally a mimicry artiste, Kaladhar has been doing mime shows since the last 25 years and has over 6,500 shows to his credit, hence the name ‘Mime Kaladhar.’

Kaladhar’s strong point is his make up, a basic but extremely important skill he had to teach himself in the Seventies, “Because there was no one teaching it then.” So he taught himself and practised till he thought he was good enough to go on stage.

Inspiration

When it was time to expand his work portfolio, he looked around for inspiration and found that Mr. Bean was a popular character with both children and adults. He then began researching, experimenting and rehearsing the character and various scenes from shows were used for practise. When he was comfortable playing Mr. Bean, he added his own scenes, some in the Indian context as well.

Now, in his free time, he conducts workshops and some of his students were the colourful mime artistes in the troupe on the TV show “Khushi Ki Duniya” on Sony TV. “The show was aired in the afternoons and was to promote and inculcate moral values in children,” he explains.

His stage shows upped his popularity in the city so much, that local associations look him to Dubai, Singapore and Sydney to perform for the people there. He also holds a record in the Limca Book for a 24 hour non-stop mime performance.

Having dabbled in theatre and a couple of movies, he finds himself most comfortable on stage, doing mimicry, “Because expressing yourself without words is more challenging,” he says.

RENUKA VIJAY KUMAR

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