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Salim Ghouse and Anita share thoughts on theatre, literature and working together over two decades
‘If you have nothing to say, stay quiet’
Photo: Nagara Gopal
In sync Anita and Salim complement each other, at work and home
Salim Ghouse and Anita don’t believe in beating their own trumpet. Being consummate artistes, they believe that good work gets appreciated despite the lack of marketing gimmicks. Salim admits working in commercial films (including Mani Ratnam’s ‘Thiruda Thiruda’ and Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Antham’) for bread and butter. He juggles theatre, films and martial arts while Anita teaches children through her theatre workshops, produces plays and designs costumes. Salim married Anita, his junior in the Pune Film Institute, more than 25 years and together they set up their production house, Phoenix Players. They believe in complementing each other at work and home and enjoy taking up work that challenges them. In Hyderabad to perform ‘Yudhistra and Draupadi’ for the Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation, they talk about their passion for theatre and what drives them. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo listens in…
Salim: A lot of people find the title Yudhistra and Draupadi fascinating because they identify Draupadi with Arjuna. We call this an ‘untold love story.’ I believe both our epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, would not exist without the women protagonists – Sita and Draupadi.
Anita: Working with you over the years has meant more literature and good parts to play. What I like is you expect me to play the archetype rather than the person. Yudhistra and Draupadi is a kind of novella that Pavan Verma has written in English.
Salim: Both of us play sutradhar and the character, which is tough. My favourite part in the presentation is the Yakshaprashnam. I think it is the heart of the presentation and a precursor to The Gita. I have had the privilege to play Krishna for Shyam Benegal in Bharat ek Khoj and then recite The Gita for a private album.
Anita: Language is immaterial in a play and I think I am blessed to have done different roles in our plays – Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Ophelia in Hamlet and so on.
Salim: One of the first plays we did together was Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor where you did five parts. I thought you were a fine actor and excelled in comedy as well. It has never been easy since we formed Phoenix Players in 1984. I believe that plays choose us. We read a number of scripts that we can do easily and rejected them. We prefer doing plays that challenge us. As my principal actor, you should tell me how you multitask – acting, designing costumes and coordinating sets, conducting workshops for children’s theatre, and personally being a wife and mother. When I am away, you even rehearse with the actors and fill in for me.
Anita: In life, women are always playing multiple roles. I have no complaints and happy that I can do all this work. It’s not easy because there is no demarcation between work and home. Talk about personal life and work overlaps often. You keep me going all the time and I enjoy the challenge.
Salim: Both of us enjoy cooking and even at that time, I discuss things like dialogue delivery. When you retort, I tell you that this is the tone I want for the dialogue too (laughs). We keep fighting with each other, but not because we have ego issues.
Anita: I think we’ve grown together in this relationship.
Salim: Absolutely. Being married for more than 25 years now, I can proudly say that my sense of humour is intact and am happy I can keep you laughing no matter what pressures we face. I understand that both of us complement each other; the wife is not a mere extension of the man. I’m not an easy man to live with. But I believe in loving them for what they are. I respect your religion and have maintained that you don’t need to follow rituals to please me or my family. You visit the dargah most often than I do because you like the atmosphere, not out of compulsion.
Anita: In theatre too, we have underplayed and under-sold ourselves. People set up shop very quickly and know how to stay in the news. I remember you telling me that it is enough even if we are able to communicate to one member of the audience, who will remember the performance for five to 10 years even if he forgets the name of the actors.
Salim: Which is why we have explored different formats. It is a challenge to hold the attention of the audience for an hour through a one-man act without sets and props. I wanted to explore that format and pay a tribute to the great storytellers of the past. I consider the artistes who took part in Hari Kathas and Pandavani to be the finest actors. I explored this format with Troubadour (which Salim presented in Edinburg, Dublin, Prague and will be presenting in Lahore in December 2007) by presenting three stories and poems of Jalalludin Rumi; again, there was Dopelganger based on Mulla Nasruddin.
Anita: People set up shop quickly and know how to be in the news. We, on the contrary, have underplayed and under-sold ourselves. You’ve told me that if you have the essence of the craft, people will come to you.
Salim: I know in today’s time marketing is important but ultimately work speaks. Too much packaging and no substance is destructive. If you have nothing much to say, it’s better to be quiet.
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