Lifestyle
She’s as busy as a bee and we’re not kidding! With a brand new play in hand and a cast like husband, Naseeruddin Shah and Rajit Kapoor to direct, we’re not surprised — she’d better be.
Updated : Aug 11, 2012, 01:51 PM IST
She’s as busy as a bee and we’re not kidding! With a brand new play in hand and a cast like husband, Naseeruddin Shah and Rajit Kapoor to direct, we’re not surprised — she’d better be.
“This is my debut as a director and while it is exciting, I am well aware of the fact that I am directing Naseeruddin and Rajit. I’ve worked with Naseer on several other projects and so that was not what worried me, Rajit was however, someone I still needed to find a connection with. I’m glad it all worked out, and now, I see why they asked me to direct in the first place — the play demands an outside perspective,” opens Ratna Pathak Shah as we somehow manage to get her to speak with us on the phone amid tight rehearsal schedules.
“When they approached me to direct the play, I was obviously surprised — Naseeruddin and Rajit had been working on the script for quite sometime by then. The play was chosen as a project to be directed by Naseeruddin and then at some point of time, both Rajit and Naseer realised that they needed someone to direct it. It wasn’t one of the plays where someone could act and direct it at the same time. That’s how I got involved and now looking at what’s come out of the process, I’m happy I did,” adds Ratna.
A Walk In The Woods premieres in Bangalore on August 17 at 8.30pm and Chowdiah Hall will play venue to this play that is synopsised as, “an adaptation of American playwright Lee Blessing’s work of the same name that portrays the conversation between a Russian and American diplomat along the sidelines of a peace talk in Geneva.”
“The Indian adaptation of the play shows a Pakistani and an Indian diplomat going away to take ‘a walk in the woods’ while in the midst of peace negotiations. In an attempt to resolve differences between their nations they try having a frank conversation instead of indulging in the usual rhetoric characteristic of their interactions. Can these individuals play a decisive role in untangling complex political hyperbole to initiate real dialogue? Do ‘we’ have a say in deciding our fate and that of a world on the precipice of nuclear warfare? The play addresses all these questions and more through brilliant performances by its leading stars — Rajit and Naseer.”
With all questions on the play answered, we quickly move on to Ratna’s most popular characterisation on television — Maya Sarabhai. “Maya Sarabhai is an amazing character and I must say that I enjoyed playing that role. It was a particularly well-created character that allowed me to add to what was already expected. I don’t mind being known as Maya Sarabhai and that’s the price you pay for being an actor. That said, I was disappointed when post the series, the only roles I was offered were on similar lines. I am not too fond of stereotyping my characters and though they might be fun, they end up stifling you as an actor.”
So, is Ratna Pathak Shah anything like Maya Sarabhai? “Well, not really and then, maybe, yes… She’s not necessarily a funny person and it’s just situations and the repartee that are involved within those situations that make up the humour — maybe I am also caught in similar situations, but definitely not so often. That said, I often wish I could be as bitchy as she is on-screen. Saddeningly, I don’t think that would work favourably for me in real life,” concludes Ratna.