Nawazuddin Siddiqui recalls stage days as theatre Olympics draws to a close

Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui recalled his theatre days as he went on stage today to recite a few lines of Lord Krishna from an old play he was a part of. Siddiqui was a special guest at the closing ceremony of the National School of Drama's (NSD) 8th Theatre Olympics.

The 'Raees' star said he wanted to collaborate with NSD Director Waman Kendre to revive the folk performances in Maharashtra. Siddiqui then proceeded to perform few lines from an old play he was a part of. "Years ago, before NSD, I had done a play called 'Maharathi'. There was a speech of Lord Krishna, which he says to Duryodhan. I will recite that for you," he said before performing the one-minute act.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present. Fadnavis said there was a lot of similarity between theatre and politics. "Theatre is a place where all the sentiments of the society are highlighted. Politics is no different. We have to perform acts there too -- some are true, some are false. "But, I believe that our audience is so intelligent that when the act is false, it rejects us and when our sentiments are true, it again and again chooses us. And I feel this is the similarity between theatre and politics," he said.

At the event, there were several performances, including folk dances from states like Gujarat and Odisha. Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, actors Nana Patekar and Manoj Joshi, Theodoros Terzopoulos, Ratan Thiyam, Arjun Deo Charan among others were also present.

The Mumbai chapter of the 8th Theatre Olympics was organised by the NSD in collaboration with the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Maharashtra. The megapolis hosted 28 performances from March 24 by presenting a diverse range of theatre forms from all over the world. The eighth edition of the global theatre festival was held in 17 cities with Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhubaneswar already having staged the show with over 25,000 artists performing in 450 shows.

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