Kumud Mishra: You can’t fool a co-star who knows your strengths and shortcuts

When wealthy filmmaker Anil Wadhwa extends an invitation to his wifersquos young lover Mayank Tiwari to have a tecircteagravetecircte mind games and power play followThis forms the premise of the stage thriller Saanp Seedhi which has been adapted in Hindi by Akarsh Khurana from the Tony Awardwinning play Sleuth originally written by British playwright Anthony Shaffer The psychological drama directed by Shubhrajyoti Barat will premier in Mumbai this weekend at Aadyam Theatrersquos seventh seasonRevealing the motivation behind choosing to direct this play Barat tell middaycom ldquoSleuth has intrigued theatre practitioners and theatregoers for a long time Itrsquos generational in that sense and has been adapted for stage and screen in multiple languages including Marathi and BengalirdquoldquoAdditionally I had two fantastic actors with me to do justice to the play ndash Kumud and Sumeetrdquo he says proudlyVeteran actor Kumud Mishra and actorwriterdirector Sumeet Vyas play the roles of Anil Wadhwa and Mayank Tiwari respectively ndash the only two characters in this theatrical piece which has been produced by D for DramaDoing justice to the charactersMishra who has played diverse roles throughout his career on stage and screen admits that it was slightly challenging to bring his character to life ldquoThis is very new for me I havenrsquot worked in a play of this genre before To place the character accurately to strike the right balance between the character performance and my own personality was a bit challengingrdquo he revealsWhat he enjoyed the most was embodying the flamboyance of the character which he believes is in contrast to his real personality ldquoIt seemed awkward at first because I am not like that in real life But I am trying to go out of my comfort zone so this aspect was very excitingrdquo he sharesVyas walked into the role with a sense of responsibility given the legacy of the play ldquoThis play has been performed by some revered actors in the West as well as in India So we walked into this role with that apprehension and added responsibilityrdquo he revealsSharing the challenges of doing justice to his role the actor says ldquoThe first difficulty was that I had to pretend I didnrsquot know my coactor Kumud whom Irsquove known for over two decades as a friend and worked very closely with on stage and in front of the camerardquoldquoAlso I am acting on stage in a new play after almost 10 years So to walk into a new rehearsal with a new character is a different ball game altogetherrdquo he admitsTalking about the character Vyas reveals ldquoTherersquos a lovely transition of this character that happens between the first and the second half So to find a new voice and personality for that changeover was challengingrdquoBut the transition was also an exciting part of the journey ldquoMayank is a very straightforward guy ndash earnest innocent naiumlve He meets this other person and it the conversation triggers something He decides to get out of his comfort zone respond and be the other guy Thatrsquos a lovely transition and the part I like the mostrdquo Vyas expressesWhile the actors went through a unique journey of playing their respective characters the directorrsquos role wasnrsquot without its challengesldquoI am not a theatre director primarily I have mainly acted in theatre So it takes time to get into the groove to get into the directorrsquos chair and be comfortable with it These are people I share an equation with as fellow actors apart from the personal equation Suddenly to don a directorrsquos hat and ask them to do things a certain way took time to get used to I tried to be a person who is a better viewer and has a sense of perspective and can point things out to the actorrdquo shares BaratAdditionally he points out ldquoWe have departed from these kinds of plays in our journey Theatre is largely focused on realistic dramas now So coming back to it and acclimatising ourselves to this genre was an enjoyable journeyrdquoWas the fact that there are only two characters in the play an advantage or a challengeldquoItrsquos not a disadvantage The bonus is that both of them are accomplished artistes and their work already has an impression on the audience That can be used creatively in this kind of playrdquo Barat respondsVyas is of the opinion that a twocharacter play facilitates focused work and one can indulge more in building each character ldquoIt is easier in the sense that you have lesser people to manage but it also comes with more responsibility because there are only two people on stage all the time leaving less scope to make any mistake So itrsquos a doubleedge swordrdquo he saysEquation on stage and beyondHaving last worked together in the play Purane Chawal which was directed by Vyas and starred Barat and Mishra the trio share a strong equation both on and off the stageldquoTo be able to collaborate with your closest fellow actors whose work you like and respect to encounter problems and find solutions together is a joyrdquo exclaims BaratMishra shares ldquoWorking with friends is an advantage But it can also be a disadvantage because you start taking them for grantedrdquoldquoHence we put our personal equation aside when we step on the stage because we have to deliver as actors The advantage of working with Shubhro da Shubhrajyoti Barat is that hersquos also an actor So he identifies very quickly when you are going back to your usual tricks He knows that this comes easy to you and tells you that it wonrsquot work When you work with someone who is in awe of you as an actor you can perform your gimmicks because itrsquos new to them But with someone you have worked with for years they know who you are and what you are capable of So they push you out of your comfort zonerdquo he expressesSharing more about their equation beyond the stage Vyas says ldquoThe equation is great With Shubhro itrsquos almost semipaternal He has known me since 200001 He was my senior in the theatre company I had joined So he has literally seen me grown up And I have known Kumud for almost 20 years now So this is home ground for merdquoCatch the play lsquoSaanp Seedhirsquo in MumbaiWhenMarch 22 730 pm March 23 4 pm and 730 pmWhereBal Gandharva Rang Mandir Bandra West