Toymaker from Kalbadevi has a new story to tell

Gujarati theatre director Manoj Shah tells What's On why dabbling in play things has made him a better storyteller

Gujarati theatre director Manoj Shah tells What's On why dabbling in play things has made him a better storyteller

Manoj Shah, one of the few remaining Gujarati theatre directors who has managed to resist commercial pressures, and find a niche audience for his kind of theatre is back with his latest play, Jal Jal Mere Patang.

A still from the play Jal Jal Mare Patang

Exploring the life and times of Vedanta scholar Manilal Nabhubhai Dwivedi, a contemporary of Swami Vivekanand, the play premiered before Mumbai audiences this week. The fact that Shah started out as a toy maker in Kalbadevi had a major impact on his work, he admits. His interaction with National Institute of Design (NID) alumni to create toys, reflects in the artwork that now forms a backdrop to most of his plays.

Before getting into theatre you were a toymaker. How did the transition occur?
I had a fancy for toys and that gave me the idea to make toys myself.u00a0 So, I collaborated with designers from NID to create educational toys that I could sell. It was then that I understood the nuances of art that I now use in my plays. I have had the privilege to work with Bhupen Kakkar, Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh and Atul Dodhiya thanks to my early work as a
toymaker.

You've got some of the best artists to create backdrops for your plays, backdrops that seem to have a role of their own. How do you collaborate art and theatre?
With every new play, I share the script with artists who I would like to include in my mission to create space for sensible theatre. This is also a subtle way of bringing the work of world-renowned Gujarati artists into the lives of middle-class audiences.

You are seen as one of the few people in Gujarati theatre working towards engaging the Gujarati literati. Isn't that a difficult job considering commercial Gujarati theatre is a money spinner?
Yes, the idea is to create a different kind of play. It's not as if I am only into serious theatre. All my plays, whether Master Phoolmani, Apurva Avsar or Mareez, contain all the nav-rasas; they are entertaining too. Over the past ten years, Ideas Unlimited (his theatre group) has managed to build enough credibility for audiences to come all the way from Kalyan to Baroda to catch a performance. It has been a struggle and we're finally seeing the result of the hardwork we put in for so many years. We know that when we open a new play there is enough interest among theatre-goers to get us a packed hall.u00a0

Jal Jal Mare Patang will be staged this evening at Prithvi Theatre, Juhu at 9 pm.
Call: 26149546.
Tickets: Rs 200

Jal Jal Mare Patang is a play based on the autobiography of Vedanta scholar Manilal Nabhubhai Dwivedi, who suffered from Syphilis from a young age. The play explores various aspects of Dwivedi's character as a scholar,
litterateur, supporter of women's liberation and his illness. "Manilal Dwivedi's character carries cultural and historical baggage because his work was suppressed for years as people were uncomfortable with the dark side of his life going public," says Shah.