Day 2 of the “Centre Stage: Talk Show”, an event hosted by Club Literati in collaboration with Ranga Theatre at the Indie Moons Art Festival, commenced with vigour at the Gauranjani Auditorium, Ravindra Bhawan, Bhopal.
The theme of the discussion was “Crossing the Divide: Theatre to Cinema” and the panelists were prolific theatre artists, namely, Mr. Makarand Deshpande, Mr. Rajiv Verma, Mr. Balendra Singh Balu, and Mr. Girija Shankar. The event moderator was Mr. Sourabh Anant.
The moderator started the session by talking about the bridge between theatre and cinema that transforms the artist’s acting and personality.
He questioned Mr. Girija Shankar, a senior journalist and theatre activist about his experience with both the art forms and the differences between the two. To this, the latter answered that there isn’t a comparison between the two as they complement each other.
Mr. Rajiv Verma, a famous film and television actor added his perspective by saying that theatre is not just for entertainment unlike many movies, it carries a social responsibility and delivers an important message to the people.
He talked of the many changes that have occurred in theatre due to the emphasis on TRP and the introduction of OTT platforms.
He shared that a major difference between cinema and theatre is the switch-off and on mode. In cinema, due to multiple shots, the actor experiences a breakage in playing the characters which is not the case in theatre where there’s more continuity.
Mr. Balendra Balu, a Bollywood actor and director talked about the importance of learning and reading Hindi and Urdu literature works for new actors. He said an art form must be mastered to the fullest and one should be a lifelong learner.
He stressed an artist mustn’t be in a hurry to make the audience understand him. Instead, he should take the time to understand the role and the director’s vision and give it his best.
The moderator then asked the brilliant actor, writer and director, Mr. Makarand Deshpande, that he says “Life is cinema”, so then, “What is cinema?”
To this, Mr. Deshpande said cinema is a reflection of life and life becomes beautiful when it becomes one with cinema.
He further added, cinema and theatre are ever-changing art forms. They keep transforming based on the acting and the perception of the audience.
He stressed that the new generation must clean the old slate and use their own vision to write something based on the current scenarios, rather than focusing on old theories that may be irrelevant now.
Towards the end, the panelists answered the questions of the audience. One audience member asked if there’s a generational difference between the audiences of theatre and movies. To this, Mr. Rajiv Verma said that indeed there’s a difference but there’s nothing wrong with it. Theatre is meant to cater to a smaller audience to influence their mindset while the movies are more suitable for a wider audience.
The event proved to be yet another powerful session in the Centre Stage series with the strong and bold opinions of the eminent panelists.
