Back then in late 1970s, Dinesh Thakur’s only advice to his theatre group and all theatre practitioners was to “keep performing.” He felt that more the number of performances, better would be the atmosphere to increase audiences for Hindi theatre. He was right as 40 years since he founded Ank Theatre Group in Mumbai — the citadel of Marathi and Gujarati plays whose audiences are renowned for actually buying tickets to watch plays — Hindi theatre has now reached a phase where there are enough plays as well as audiences but a dearth of spaces to stage the performances. This back-handed compliment is a measure of the Hindi theatre’s growth in what is inarguably the theatre capital of India that continues to be dominated by Marathi and Gujarati language shows.It was on October 1, 1976, that Thakur founded Ank, and to commemorate these four decades, the group — now helmed by the late director-actor’s wife and artiste Preeta Mathur — is staging a two-day festival at the NCPA in Mumbai. The festival will feature two of Ank’s and Hindi theatre’s best known plays, “Jaat Hi Poocho Sadhu Ki” (on October 1) and “Hai Mera Dil,” (on October 2). The festival is co-organized by Dr Shankar Shesh Foundation; Dr Shesh (1933–1981) was one of the most prolific Hindi playwrights whose original plays gained immense popularity.“It’s surprising to look back in time to 1976 when Hindi theatre was non-existent,” says Mathur. “Ank was a stepping stone and soon a few other like-minded people joined the effort to promote Hindi theatre in Mumbai. These included Nadira Babbar’s Ekjute, Om Katare’s Yatri and of course, IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association). And when Jennifer Kapoor gave a push with the Prithvi Theatre, there was finally a space to go to, even though the audiences were not much in the beginning. Zooming in to present times, of course, financial challenges remain but if we are able to meet our publicity expenses and rentals, there are enough people willing to do good theatre.” That’s not a mean achievement considering that the establishment of Hindi theatre in Mumbai came in those very decades, which marked the advent of alternate, fast-paced, and more dazzling means of entertainment.Though Thakur is no longer around to see the strides that Hindi theatre continues to make — he passed away in 2012 at the age of 65 — the mantra that Ank relentlessly follows is to “keep performing.” “That’s the only way to grow,” says Mathur. “And that is why, we are going to hold the Dinesh Thakur Memorial Theatre Festival in many cities of the Hindi heartland,” she shares. Only recently, Ank staged performances in Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, to stupendous success and Mathur informs that next on her check list are cities such as Indore, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Dehradun, Hyderabad, and perhaps Jaipur too.“It was a heartening experience to interact with the theatre groups of Bhopal. We were invited to join them for the regular rehearsals of their plays and the interaction was so fruitful. I was surprised that there was such immense curiosity to know about Dineshji’s practice, his approach to theatre... He seems to have become this grand dad of theatre who will continue to guide the younger generations,” shares Mathur.The two upcoming shows are of plays that have become landmarks in the history of modern Hindi theatre. While “Jaat Hi Poocho Sadhu Ki,” based on the Marathi play by Vijay Tendulkar, is widely known for its tongue-in-cheek comment on the age-old caste system and the modern, flawed education system, “Hai Mera Dil” written by Ranbir Singh is the longest-running play of Hindi theatre, with the upcoming show being the 1126th; it was also the first ‘houseful’ Hindi play at Prithvi Theatre.— Dinesh Thakur Memorial Theatre Festival will be held at Godrej Theatre NCPA, Nariman Point Mumbai, on October 1 & 2, 7 pm. Both the plays are of two-hour duration with an interval of 10 minutes. Tickets: Rs 400. For details, visit www.ncpamumbai.com
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