Freespirited actress Avantika Akerkar tells Sujata Chakrabarti about her new film and her dream of doing a one-woman show
Freespirited actress Avantika Akerkar tells Sujata Chakrabarti about her new film and her dream of doing a one-woman show
It’s a production that is enjoyed as much by its actors as by the audiences and not just for its shock value. On the eve of yet another staging of Vagina Monologues at the Prithvi Theatre this month, theatre person Avantika Akerkar appears free-spirited and uninhibited.
A juxtaposition of many emotions – and what did you expect, considering she showcases a range on stage – she is feisty but exudes it with cool élan.
The pink dress that she is wearing loosely is used to denote the fairer sex. It’s a fair choice perhaps for someone who is part of a group of equally spirited women who speak their minds on women’s issue through the Indian adaptation of Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologue.
Avantika says, “Our next performance is possibly going to be our 180th plus. The play has attained cult status now.” When they started out, Avantika recalls that they had expected the audience to come just out of curiosity. However things started to change once the popularity of the outspoken and emotion-ridden play picked up, not just among women but also men. Avantika exclaims saying, “Once while we were showing at Prithvi, the entire front row was occupied by college boys!” And so much so that there have been recommendations to the group to open forums to start dialogues on forbidden topics.
Incidentally, Avantika is not really impressed with the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to ban the play in the state. She says, “South India is generally considered to be very progressive about literacy and awareness. This decision taken by the erstwhile chief minister J Jayalalitha was a complete contradiction of that.”
She rues adding, “We have staged Vagina Monologues in Delhi in front of politicians. If they did not have any objection to it, how can a state that churns out semi-porno films have any objection to a play like Vagina Monologues?”
Any foray into Bollywood or any chance of actresses being associated with the play? It is an industry that sadly lays a great stress on image. Avantika feels that every celebrity should promote a cause.
Avantika confesses, “There have many occasions when Mahabanoo (Mody Kotwal), the director of the play, has asked Bollywood actresses to participate in live performances of Vagina Monologues. But every time she has been turned down with a ‘What will my mother think’.”
Ask her one actress she would love to have as a part of the cast, she replies, “Nandita Das”. Having worked with her earlier on charity programmes for the Mumbai Marathon, she believes that the actor has the commitment and passion to take a cause forward.
Does she ever see herself as turning director soon? Pat comes the reply – “I don’t think so. I am not even close to writing my own play. However, with my sister-in-law, I produced Oscar Wilde’s Salome some time ago that dealt with experiential theatre. But in the future, I want to do a one-woman show.”
She is also excitedly anticipating Saeed Mirza’s next movie based on the vignettes of life in Mumbai that sees Avantika in a role of a Parsi hairdresser. She laughs about her character, “A lot of people take me for a Parsi. So it will be fun to pretend like one.”
c_sujata@dnaindia.net
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