Sometimes he would be challenged by his actors, to act!!!
Yes, that is true. Vijay Shukla is a legendary name in Delhi theater circuit. He is termed a lost genius. If you see 'Bandint Queen' , he appears in the film in one of the opening scenes. But it seems camera and film was not really his thing. It was stage. I have been in scenes with Vijay bhai. In 'Agra Bazar', the scene that I was in, was between me and him. There is a lot about Vijay Shukla that one could write. He is someone you put him on stage and he will rule it, as if it his own space. Very difficult to find another urban actor on stage like him.
So, Naya Theater had to do a short play called 'Sadak'. It is a farce which actually came from Nacha. The script is not written by Habib Tanvir. The artists from the village used to perform it, but they made a long play of it with a number of improvised elements. Habib Tanvir just tied it up and stuck to the story and the play reduced to about 45 minutes to about an hour of duration.
This play is an interesting one- a word or two about it first- the scene opens in the court, there is a crowd of villagers and three industrialists on the opposing side. The case is that the villagers have broken the road from the city to their village. The charge is made by the industrialists that this will block development- how can economic activity travel from the village to the city and vice versa without the infrastructure- in this case the road. The villagers respond that they have yet to meet 'development', they don't know how this thing looks or feels. They have broken the road because they don't want the road or the promised development- e.g. resources being taken away from the village and used for profiteering in the city ( well, that is just the story, it has got nothing to do with anything else going on in the country today..the land bill etc…I desist from commenting on the controversy because I don't understand the whole debate…since this particular naya theater incident is located around the performance of this play…I am forced to explain) A full case is fought. The judge is a farcical character, the performance hugely physical.
Habib saab told Vijay Shukla to prepare the role. Vijay Shukla had done it before but in Habib saab's view it was Deepak Tiwary who had the done the best rendition of this particular role. Incidentally Habib saab himself had also played it. Vijay Shukla was not interested in doing it. At that point he had realized that he wanted to be a part of the music team, would sit with an improvised instrument of his own and play it- a bottle, a string tied at two ends or any such thing.To try and get out of playing the role, Vijay Shukla challenged Habib saab- why don't you play it? Aren't you also an actor? Habib saab said- Yes, of course, and also because I do this role a lot better than you. Vijay shukla retorted- No, you don't, I do it much better than you. Habib saab took it as an affront to his acting talent and said- Okay, if you think that, tell me, whom do you think has done the best as the judge, definitely not you, it was Deepak Tiwary. Vijay Shukla said - I agree it was Deepak who did it best but I did it better than you. The exact dialogue in Hindi was- Deepak bees tha, mein unnees , aap attharah( If Deepak was 20, I was 19 and you 18) Habib saab said- Deepak was the best, but I was second best and you third in the three of us.
Eventually, Vijay Shukla did not do the role. Habib saab played it for that particular show, the debate continued at few other occasions.
Yes, that is true. Vijay Shukla is a legendary name in Delhi theater circuit. He is termed a lost genius. If you see 'Bandint Queen' , he appears in the film in one of the opening scenes. But it seems camera and film was not really his thing. It was stage. I have been in scenes with Vijay bhai. In 'Agra Bazar', the scene that I was in, was between me and him. There is a lot about Vijay Shukla that one could write. He is someone you put him on stage and he will rule it, as if it his own space. Very difficult to find another urban actor on stage like him.
So, Naya Theater had to do a short play called 'Sadak'. It is a farce which actually came from Nacha. The script is not written by Habib Tanvir. The artists from the village used to perform it, but they made a long play of it with a number of improvised elements. Habib Tanvir just tied it up and stuck to the story and the play reduced to about 45 minutes to about an hour of duration.
This play is an interesting one- a word or two about it first- the scene opens in the court, there is a crowd of villagers and three industrialists on the opposing side. The case is that the villagers have broken the road from the city to their village. The charge is made by the industrialists that this will block development- how can economic activity travel from the village to the city and vice versa without the infrastructure- in this case the road. The villagers respond that they have yet to meet 'development', they don't know how this thing looks or feels. They have broken the road because they don't want the road or the promised development- e.g. resources being taken away from the village and used for profiteering in the city ( well, that is just the story, it has got nothing to do with anything else going on in the country today..the land bill etc…I desist from commenting on the controversy because I don't understand the whole debate…since this particular naya theater incident is located around the performance of this play…I am forced to explain) A full case is fought. The judge is a farcical character, the performance hugely physical.
Habib saab told Vijay Shukla to prepare the role. Vijay Shukla had done it before but in Habib saab's view it was Deepak Tiwary who had the done the best rendition of this particular role. Incidentally Habib saab himself had also played it. Vijay Shukla was not interested in doing it. At that point he had realized that he wanted to be a part of the music team, would sit with an improvised instrument of his own and play it- a bottle, a string tied at two ends or any such thing.To try and get out of playing the role, Vijay Shukla challenged Habib saab- why don't you play it? Aren't you also an actor? Habib saab said- Yes, of course, and also because I do this role a lot better than you. Vijay shukla retorted- No, you don't, I do it much better than you. Habib saab took it as an affront to his acting talent and said- Okay, if you think that, tell me, whom do you think has done the best as the judge, definitely not you, it was Deepak Tiwary. Vijay Shukla said - I agree it was Deepak who did it best but I did it better than you. The exact dialogue in Hindi was- Deepak bees tha, mein unnees , aap attharah( If Deepak was 20, I was 19 and you 18) Habib saab said- Deepak was the best, but I was second best and you third in the three of us.
Eventually, Vijay Shukla did not do the role. Habib saab played it for that particular show, the debate continued at few other occasions.
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