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Nadira, naturally
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Nadira Zaheer Babbar speaks to SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY on why drama continues to be her “best friend”
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BEGUM JAAN Nadira Zaheer Babbar on the sets of her play "1857 - Ek Safarnaama" PHOTO: V. SUDERSHAN
No pretences, just natural.
Just a whiff of Nadira Zaheer Babbar is enough to give you this impression. No airs, no frills, no showing off, just a broad, toothy grin in between directions to the members of her theatre troupe, Ekjute, on make-up, line delivery and so on. She is not even too bothered about giving the right poses before the camera after a point. Known for meaningful plays, with a social message ever-present, though this Sangeet Natak Akademi award winner started as a stage actor way back in the ’70s, she is today a much-appreciated play director and a script writer too. Excerpts from an interview with the versatile personality:
Is it true that you were not too keen on theatre when you joined the National School of Drama?
Yes. I was not clear about what I wanted to do in life. Unlike my sisters, I was bad academically. My father was worried. He shared this with Ebrahim Alkazi, who was in NSD then. He suggested that I should join NSD, so I did. But the first few months were difficult. I was not used to the medium, nobody from my family had ever done plays. Today I am thankful to them.
Any particular moment when you realised that theatre is your creative medium?
It is difficult to pinpoint it. It happened gradually. Today, it is not just my trade because I am qualified to do it, but it is my best friend.
Is it still difficult for a theatre person to survive on sheer merit?
Very. Still, very little money is coming in for theatre. I want to take my plays to the villages, but where is the money? I don’t want to make a profit on such projects but one needs at least some funds to commute, lodge and feed your troupe.
You have just staged in Delhi two of your plays, “1857 – Ek Safarnaama” and “Begum Jaan”. Both deal with times gone by. Do we see there a fascination for history in you?
History has always fascinated me. Having said this, I would like to add that I have also done plays which deal with modern issues. I have done a play that shows the problem of the maidservants. Also, I have done a lot of comedy. (Both “1857” and “Begum Jaan” are scripted by Javed Siddiqui and directed by Nadira. She plays the title role in “Begum Jaan”.)
In “1857”, the script focuses on the common man’s role in the Uprising, an angle not seen in the history books. Did history go wrong somewhere?
No, I don’t think so. History has always concentrated only on the kings and the queens, so it did the same thing while documenting the 1857 Uprising. But the contribution of the common man was significant too. As the play’s director, I have tried to show their role in it. I have shown a leader like Nana Sahib. (The play was recently staged at New Delhi’s Purana Qila to celebrate NSD’s 50th anniversary.)
You do plays only in Hindi and Urdu. A conscious decision?
Yes. We are gradually going away from our language. We need to use it in our creative work to keep it alive. I am nobody to stop the audience who go to only English plays, but I feel if we continue doing good work, they will come to watch ours too.
We rarely see you in movies. Have you given up on Bollywood?
I have always stayed away from it. Since M.F. Husain is close to us, I appeared in a cameo in Meenaxi. It was a conscious decision, though, to be a part of Gurinder Chadda’s Bride and Prejudice.
You had such illustrious parents. Weren’t you lucky?
So very much. I feel whatever I have achieved today, it is because of them. Right parenting is important to bring out creativity in children, but it also depends on the kind of person you are. There are some who cultivate it on their own, they know how to self-educate them. (Nadira’s parents, Syed Sajjad and Razia Sajjad Zaheer were part of the Progressive Writers’ Association. Her father was a founder member of the Communist Party of India.)
Your children, Juhi and Aryan Babbar, had a lukewarm start in Bollywood. Despite talent, is it far more difficult for youngsters to survive as actors than when you started?
It has always been difficult in performing arts.
Lastly, what next?
A holiday! I have not gone on a vacation for 20 years. I owe myself minimum 20 days of rest.
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