“A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably different” – Melinda Gates.
 |
| Theatre activist & Cinema Actor "Shilpi Marwaha" performing at Jantar Mantar |
Every person has a story and more often than not the story has ups, downs, lefts, rights and sometimes taking us a full circle. Just like every story, every person is different. A lot of us have got a magical power hidden deep inside ourselves. If we are lucky enough to reach it we can find the key to live the lives we want to live. All of us are gifted and are talented in wonderful ways. Life is magical when you love what you do while making the world a better place, making your own choices and not be an accessory to someone else's authority. Shilpi Marwaha, a prominent person in Delhi theatre circuit graduated from Delhi University chose theatre acting as her career and started her very own ‘Sukhmanch Theatre’ in March 2017 in order to promote theatrical arts. She has been working as a theatre artist and an activist for the past decade. She is well known for her roles in popular Bollywood movies, ‘Raanjhanaa’, and Bhoomiyude Avakashikal (The Inheritors of the Earth), directed by T. V. Chandran and has acted in more than 5000 street plays.
The creative head and director of ‘Sukmanch theatre’, Shilpi, named the theatre in the memory of her mother (sukhvarsha) whom she lost at a very young age. Her father had been very supportive of her decision of taking up acting as her primary occupation. Inspired by the ecstasy she experienced in her mother’s presence, she took on the challenge of bringing the same emotion to her audience through her plays. She believes that “every artist was first an amateur”, while emphasizing this she urged the youth to show up at her theatre. Her theatre group never took any auditions neither kept any parameters for those people who aspired to be artists because she believes that ‘It’s the will not the skill’. She provides stage to beginners, having said that, she added that her main objective for this theatre is to pave a way for the actors who want to join theatre but unfortunately lack the courage to stand in front of the audience, hence ‘sukhmanch’ provides them the courage to act through proper teaching and training.
 |
| "Sukhmanch Theatre performing Streetplay "DASTAK" at Shimla during 3 day Streetplay awareness campaign 2017 |
Shilpi mentioned the themes of her plays are relevant to our real lives, spanning corruption, atrocities on women, violence, gender issues, domestic workers, street vendors, poverty, drugs, road rage, domestic violence, inter-faith, child labour, budget, female foeticide, child education etc. Such plays provide the audience a new perception for the sins that still prevail in the society. She added that the words uttered by the actors enlighten their audiences providing them food for thought. The main intention behind their plays is to reach out to the people who cannot afford expensive tickets to sit in the high end auditoriums and watch such art. She firmly believes that plays reach the areas where cinema cannot. Following this ideology she does not charge anything for their plays.
Looking forward to work for a movie she is trying to strike balance between movies and plays. In a candid chat she mentioned her desire to continue theatre as staying connected to the roots sits on top of her priorities.
She aspires that there should be more branches of national school of drama just like we have of IIM’s and IIT’s because acting too should be treated like a career option, which as of now does not get the due limelight, keeping this in mind she wants to build ‘sukhmanch’ into a great platform where actors can come, learn and explore their passion.
It is truly said,
“If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.” —Bishop T.D. Jakes.
 |
Script reading with "Asghar Wajahat & "RJ Raunak" during an event.
When you start something new, chances are you’re going to suck. You’ve never done it before, how could you be good at it right away, right? Some people get ahead with some natural talent but most of us take the hard route. "And the courage to start something new comes from recognizing the obstacles, whether they’re self-imposed or otherwise, overcoming them, and being realistic about where you’re going. You have to understand the risks and the challenges brace yourself for it, and then dive into it head first. You’ll make mistakes, you’ll learn from them, and you’ll improve. As long as you understand that mistakes will be made, you’ll be in a better state of mind when they actually happen”, Shilpi conveys this to the youth who aspire to pursue acting as a career.
"It is not the things we do in life that we regret.. It is the things we do not"
With all chaos and information overloaded in today's world, all we can do to get back to our joys, interests and sorted lives is by discover a passion. As humans we all are born with desires to fulfill a purpose that fits into the bigger picture and the grand scheme of our world. We want to leave a legacy of having an impact on our surroundings in our time here on earth. We accomplish this through the unique passions and abilities we all are equipped with.
Our passions are meant to be discovered, pursued and put to use. They are never meant to lie dormant or be hidden under a rock!
(Shivani Vyas, Burffee.com) |
Comments
Post a Comment