Mid-day 44th anniversary special: How this American made Mumbai his home

Bernard Dafney | Theatre actor and director | From the plush suburbs of California to setting up his dream acting studio in chaotic Andheri, here’s how a non-Indian theatrewallah spent the pandemic discovering the camaraderie and rush that defines the Maximum City

As you walk into Dafney Productions Studio in Andheri, it is hard to miss the towering six-foot-10-inch frame of its eponymous founder and proprietor. On most days, you can spot  Bernard Dafney engaged in teaching the Meisner method, preparing for an audition with students or planning a new play. “It is a great city for the community of performers,” he tells us.

Dafney moved to Mumbai four years ago in 2019. Unlike the usual story of a struggle, the drama and performance arts graduate from California arrived in the city with a job in hand. “I was offered a teaching position at a few acting studios, and my wife was also working on a project in India,” he shares. Acting and the arts had always been part of his life. His father was late Bernard Dafney, an American footballer and the offensive tackle for Houston Oilers and Pittsburgh Steelers. “I am the only one in the family who is not an athlete,” he jokes. Perhaps the inclination towards the arts also comes from his mother, a vocalist. “Even my father would write poetry. The house always had music and songs.”

Mumbai brings out that sense of musical togetherness for the actor-director. “There definitely was a culture change from South California to Mumbai. The starkest one was that in the West, everyone is a lot more individualistic. Here, you are never really alone,” jokes Dafney. This is not limited to the people. Even the theatre and film industry are radically different to the West. Trained in the discipline of American theatre, it took some time for him to adjust to Mumbai’s cinema-driven culture. “I hail from a background where theatre and theatre artistes are revered. But in this city, I have met so many actors for whom theatre was a stepping stone to cinema. That was difficult to understand as an actor,” he reveals. But the grind remains the same. The competitiveness, the drive to succeed, stories of struggle and camaraderie are the same in Mumbai as in California, he says.

Adapting came easy to the 36-year-old. After all, he says, it was not his first visit to India. “In 2009, I had visited Ahmedabad as part of a cultural exchange programme and spent over two years in India. I was working with an NGO and had briefly visited Mumbai during that period,” he explains. Naturally, he has developed a liking and love for Indian cuisine, even the spicy ones. “The meals I prefer though are homemade, simple meals. Dal chawal and bhendi masala are my favourites. Every once in a while, I step out to get some utappam at High Point in Andheri,” he chuckles.

It was this sense of exchange and community that was the driving force behind the idea of Dafney’s studio. “I wanted to build a space that gives to the community of artistes. The objective is so much more than just teaching acting and the arts. As the only artiste in my family, I often found it difficult to get them  to understand the specific challenges I face. With a community of actors, there is an unspoken brotherhood.”

The comfort of community must have been welcome in the early days. Within a year of arriving in the city, the family found themselves in the midst of a global pandemic. They were posed with a choice of either going back or to weather it out. “It was a tough time as we did not know if things will open up after a month, or after six months.

It was at this time that the idea for the studio also came into being. His experiences in California’s vibrant theatre circuit had inspired Dafney to try and replicate it in Mumbai. “I reached out to my friends who stepped up. From equipment to funding, many of them contributed,” he shares. The pandemic also contributed by reducing real estate prices to an affordable level. So, Dafney Productions came into being in 2020, but it was not till 2021 that the studio opened its doors. Since then, they have produced plays from Shakespeare to single-act debuts.

So, what has he made of the city so far? “Mumbai is all about who you are and what you do; and  who you are is often defined by what you do,” he observes. In that, the city reminds him of New York City. “It is fast-paced, constantly on the move. Everyone is in their little bubble, and busy all the time,” he remarks.

The warmth of aamchi Mumbai has changed his perception somewhat. “I am always surprised by how welcoming this city is to outsiders. It amazes me how ready and willing people were to buy into the idea behind the studio and give us a space. They cared about the artistic mentality, and the people,” he points out. That is perhaps revealing. “There are so many different types of people here. Differences aside, everyone finds a space for themselves in this city. I think that is special.” Far be it from us to argue.

Mumbai meri jaan?

Love about Mumbai The welcome and accommodating nature

Hate about Mumbai An occasional judgemental eye

Expectations from Mumbai A hard city where you have to struggle to make it

Did Mumbai live up to it? Yes, but in a good way. It helped me find the community I was looking for

Will it remain your home forever? Yes, of course

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