‘English theatre audience is same across India’

At noon as we walked into a fivestar property that will be showcasing Aamir Raza Husain’s play Once Upon a Murder, we found the team rehearsing their dialogues. Even though we anticipated some waiting time before Aamir Raza Husain made himself available for a chat, he instantly greeted us and joined us.

“I have been bringing my theatre productions to Chennai for past three decades. Over the last few years, I have realised that the English theatre audience across the country is same. Most of them are migrants, who are in the metro city for good jobs. They have a similar lifestyle, mindset and understand theatre in similar way. So if you ask me how the Chennai audience is different, I will say it is not,” he said. Noted for his large outdoor productions like The Fifty Day War (2000), The Legend of Ram, The Mousetrap and Lion in the Winter, we asked him about his latest production Once Upon a Murder. “Since it is a murder mystery, I can’t reveal much. All I can say is, do not come with any expectations and just think it is a boring play. Then you will enjoy it even more,” he joked.

As we discussed English theatre in India over cups of filter coffee, he veered towards a serious issue. “Big productions require lots of money, which not many people are willing to spend. Finance is a huge concern. For this reason, we have to rely on corporate sponsorship. Another concern is dearth of young talent. Many youngsters are willing to act but sadly, they can’t speak one proper sentence in English. This generation is all about using short forms and abbreviations. How on earth will they speak out their dialogues!” he exclaimed.

Inspite of all these roadblocks, Husain manages to come up with great productions year after year. How does he manage? “I guess, I just have passion for theatre and things fall in place. I make plays that people enjoy and it clicks,” he responded.

Most theatre actors also perform off and on in cinema. But we have hardly seen Husain on the big screen. “It is a different medium and doesn’t appeal to me. I love theatre. If you ask a man who cooks great meal at a roadside dhaba to suddenly cook at a five-star property, do you think he will be feel at home? Most certainly not. It is a similar situation here,” he explained, drawing an interesting analogy. 

Finally, we decided to talk about his other passion in life — food. “I like trying out street food and local popular eateries. In Chennai, I relish having piping hot cup of filter coffee and those elaborate south Indian meals. Infact, if you can suggest a place, I would really like to try it out,” he said and looked at us for suggestions. 

We discussed a couple of places and decided to call it a day, as we didn’t want to hold up the rehearsal schedule any longer.