Radio gaga

Theatre actor Radhika Mital rues that unlike in the West, radio plays find few takers here, says SUJATA CHAKRABARTI

Coming back to the Sophia College auditorium to rehearse for plays opens floodgate of memories for 43-year-old theatre actor Radhika Mital. A Sophia graduate, she was still at college when she got her first break in theatre, that too to act opposite a stalwart like Naseeruddin Shah. Basking in the late-afternoon sun in the college garden, in between rehearsals, Radhika laughs and recounts in an interview to After Hrs, “What a huge platform it was, to take the first step into the world of theatre. The girl who was originally supposed to act opposite Naseer fell sick and the opportunity fell straight into my lap.”

Radhika was part of a radio play titled Q & A that recently won gold at the Sony Radio Academy Awards, 2008 in UK. The play that was directed by John Dryden, award-winning director and radio producer from UK who has worked on several projects for BBC and Channel 4, had an Indian cast comprising of Radhika, Rajit Kapur, Sohrab Ardeshir and others. It was produced in India by Nadir Khan who has also worked on the radio adaptation of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy. Commenting on the accolades won by the production, at the event which is considered to be the Oscars of radio, Radhika says, “It was overwhelming when the play won this prestigious award. But it is a pity that in India, radio plays find very little audience.”

It is the dwindling standards of spoken-English that Radhika blames for the diminishing number of listeners of English radio. Somewhere down the line, she explains that people have done away with the diction and grammar of the language and have adopted a new language altogether — Hinglish. She explains, “In the West, radio is an effective tool to broadcast theatre to almost every household. But in our country, radio is limited to surfing music channels. Those who are passionate about theatre have to end up logging to the Internet to listen to radio plays that are being produced worldwide.”

Radhika who is part of Raell Padamsee’s production Noises Off that is currently being staged in the city,, recalls the year 1984 when Raell’s mother, the late Pearl Padamsee directed the same play that got an overwhelming response from the Mumbai audience. And she announces, “Pearl was one of the finest directors in English theatre. The play is a riot of laughter in three acts. However, we only hope that we can match up to Pearl’s production from more than two decades ago.”

Theatre, she says is an important tool to usher in social change. Radhika believes that it beats the other mediums when it comes to voicing an issue. And it is not just the audience that learns. Radhika explains, “I prefer to take each new production one at a time. After all, with every staging, every actor and director has many lessons to learn.”
c_sujata@dnaindia.net