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When the set performs
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Nissar Allana reveals the many flavours that spice up his life
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PHOTO: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY
DELICIOUS Nissar Allana enjoying the salads and more at The Claridges' Pickwicks coffee shop
He travelled from Bombay to Berlin with Rs.100 in his pocket. The year was 1969. When he was hungry he ate bread. When he was thirsty he ate grapes. A vitamin pill served as his nightcap. Relishing a buffet lunch at Thel Claridges' Pickwicks coffee shop, sets and light director Nissar Allana, co-founder of DADA — Dramatic Art and Design Academy — remembers his conquests and speaks of his passions.
The voyage
Sipping on lemon grass soup he retraces his voyage. He was 23 and studying medicine in Bombay. He walked continents for two months to meet his friend (and future wife) Amal Allana, who was studying theatre in Berlin. The story enthrals while the soup grows cold. A ship took him from Bombay to Basra. It was then by bus to Baghdad, by train to Istanbul and finally on foot to Paris. "I worked my way around. Whenever I needed money I sold blood."
He worked in guesthouses in the U.S. army base in West Berlin but lived in East Berlin. "At that time only spies did that kind of thing!" The theatre in East Berlin proved to be a curtain raiser for him.
He rises to help himself to the buffet. But returns with a plate judiciously decorated with salads and a frugal helping of caviar. "I love Lebanese food," he reveals, "these dips are so good."
Enjoying the ambience of Pickwicks, he speaks of the works of German set-designer Karl Von Appen. Following German sparingly he says, "I saw the sets more carefully as I couldn't understand the language."
He studied Brecht's concept of alienation and was impressed by the set designs of Caspar Neher. In 1971, when Amal decided to direct Bertolt Brecht' s "A Man's Man," he volunteered to design sets. The doctor became a set designer.
Discussing set design he forgets about his plate. "While the tradition of theatre is very long there was no concept of set-design." He speaks of DADA's experience, "In the first 10 years we were very influenced by the West, but then we started to explore space in different ways."
Nissar and Amal have upturned space in auditoriums, expanded space in the proscenium and shrunk space in outdoor venues. "Space is not physical. But space is created by lighting with actors suspended in it. Actors can be standing two-three feet away, but separate lighting can create a distance. Relation between actors is changed by changing the lighting."
He has to be urged towards the main course. Helping himself to salmon, he says, "I have been to Claridges before and I do like the food. The salmon is very good." He chews slower than he speaks.
As for favourites, he reveals, "Rasam, especially when Balasaraswati (noted Bharatanatyam dancer) used to make it for me." He praises her rasam and art with equal fervour, "For me, the understanding of art began through her performance."
Perfect meal
He says he loves to cook but only when he is on holiday. His specialities include fish and kabab. "I am not good with vegetables." The prefect meal? He takes a pause. "It would be freshly made biryani and kabab, with nice hot Irani rotis." He asserts that the "kadak paav" from City Bakery in Bombay is better than any French bread.
He refuses dessert. Doctor, chef, lights engineer, set designer, did he ever want to be an actor? He laughs, "I was in a café with Amal in Berlin. Brecht's wife (Helen Weigel) called her and asked her if I was an actor... and said I should be!"
Despite Brecht's wife's belief, Nissar, sipping cappuccino, says he is content behind the stage. "The set is a performer," after all. "Unless it radically transforms a play it should not exist."
NANDINI NAIR
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