Two decades of Asmita theatre

NEW DELHI: It is difficult to score a meeting with the man behind Asmita Theatre Group, Arvind Gaur - they work on a completely packed schedule, performing even eight plays a day sometimes, and he supervises it all. Whether it's working till dawn, or travelling across the country with their plays, what keeps Gaur involved is his passion for theatre. But he didn't discover it until much later.

"Theatre has always fascinated me, but I pursued a postgraduate diploma in engineering. I left it for a job as a journalist with a daily newspaper, and from there I worked in the electronic media before entering into theatre fulltime with Asmita,"" says Gaur, director of Asmita, which is in its twentieth year.

But back in 1993, breaking into theatre was not easy. Though many mainstream actors - Deepak Dobriyal, Manu Rishi Chadha, Shilpa Shukla, even Kangana Ranaut - began their careers at Asmita, it started off on a humble note. Gaur recalls the group's first show ever -- a performance of Bhishma Sahni's Hanush. "The lead actor refused to perform on the morning of the show because he wanted money. I had to take the script in my hand and play his part in the show,he says. "The show must go on," he adds.

That experience taught him to train his own actors who are committed to theatre, eager to learn and for whom money is not the objective. He says it's about acting with social activism. "Our street plays, and stage performances, all focus on issues that are relevant today," he says. "They might not directly change anything, but they create awareness that change is required," says Bajrang Bali Singh, a senior group member, who first joined Asmita by chance. "I had quit my job at a call centre when I saw a play staged by the group. Within a week, I was in," he explains, adding, "The plays are intelligent, and I feel satisfied performing in them."

Gaur says that they want their plays to be issue and acting centric, so all are staged on a shoestring budget, with 90% of it for auditorium rentals. "We have never asked for grants or chased sponsors, because that takes away from time we can spend on our work," he says. All students contribute to pay rent for their rehearsal space -- a room at a school near ITO -- and senior members take workshops to contribute for other expenses.

The bond he has with his team -- about 50 regulars and some more on weekends -- has come with working as a collective group. As he sips his cup of tea, which a student got for him from the tea stall under a peepal tree outside, he interacts with those walking in with warmth one usually reserves for family. He tells some to go home to study for ongoing exams, asks some how their job hunt is going, while questions some on being late. All students, from backgrounds as varied as slum dwellers to MBA graduates, touch his feet.

Shiv Kumar Chauhan, who has been with Asmita for three years, says it has helped him work at the ground level and truly connect with the audience. "It has made me patient, focused, and disciplined towards life,"he says. Originally an engineer, he quit his job to pursue theatre fulltime.

Another member, Rahul Khanna, left a world of glamour to act in Asmita's plays. "I thought I would to go to Mumbai to give Shahrukh competition after two months here, but I realised I have a responsibility towards society. We need a change, and I can help bring it," says Khanna, a former model, who has also played under-19 and under-22 cricket with Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag. In his three years at Asmita, his disheveled long locks have given way to neatly groomed hair, and he now also teaches theatre to school students.

One of the group's biggest undertakings is their street plays, currently supervised by Shilpi Marwaha. She says they perform everywhere, from colleges to bastis, and often perform several plays a day. "I calculated that in my five years here, I have performed in close to 8000 plays," she says.