Chairperson, NSD

Born: 14 September 1947
Birthplace: Mumbai

We have a great and rich past, a heritage that is unsurpassed in all the arts. In thought, too, we have inherited the values and philosophies of the world’s greatest religions: Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. In terms of building an equitable society, throughout history we have had rulers with wide vision who have shaped and refined an organic, syncretic, social structure that allows for flexibility, adaptability and interdependence. Closer to modern times, we could not have asked for a greater legacy of politicians who were primarily thinkers and intellectuals and shaped our modern democratic ideas. We have evolved into a civilisation where differences are celebrated, not frowned upon. All this has allowed Indians to enter the 21st century with relative ease and hold their own in a complex global world. We are spiritually strong and resistant from within.

That our country is constantly evolving and changing has always excited me. There are major opportunities to make your mark. In a large number of fields, especially in the area of art and culture in which I work, the field is still open, is still in the making, has not as yet got standardised or over-specialised. This has allowed me to not be slotted into a single area. I relish the idea that I have the freedom to direct plays, teach, run art galleries, design costumes and even make TV serials! The entire field of art is my arena and I can roam through it, picking and choosing my projects with a flexibility that would have been unheard of in the West. There I would have had to select one field and specialise in it!

I think the happiest coincidence is that I was born a month after Independence. All my work and interest lies in what came immediately before or after my birth! I am not only a ‘Midnight’s Child’ as Rushdie would have described, but all my milestones occur co-terminus with those of the nation. Sometimes I feel I am ahead of much that is happening, at times I feel the nation is rushing forward and leaving me behind!

Today, at the age of 70, I feel compelled to tell my story—the story of my parents, the story of my country. When my husband Nissar and I worked on Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi, we launched into a fascinating journey of discovering the country’s recent history. This encouraged us to say something of our own through the television series, Raj se Swaraj, based on famous trials from the Independence movement. Thereafter, our creative work began to draw on the related history of Indian theatre, with productions like Begum Barve and Nati Binodini. This led us to the related history of contemporary art, which we imbibed while we helped my father Ebrahim Alkazi mount a TV series called Indian Art and Modernism. Our country’s vicissitudes through the struggle for Independence, towards arriving at modern art forms, whether in theatre or the visual arts, relate closely to my own family’s journey towards finding more contemporary means of expression.

All these histories—personal, national, cultural—feed my creativity. In understanding this period, from say 1857 to the present, questions like why are we the way we are, why I am like this, why my parents have a particular way of thinking, why has art evolved the way it has, are answered. So, for me, these 70 years and the century before that are like a very vast jigsaw puzzle that I am in the process of piecing together. It is in this puzzle that my story and the story of this country lie hidden. That is what I should like to leave for my children—some thoughts on how we were, on what happened to our country and our families when I was around. As I regard myself a storyteller, I believe it is my job to tell true and meaningful stories.

What I cannot bear today is the blatant way in which the history of our country is being distorted for political ends. This is ominous and cannot bode well for the future.

Milestones

1968: Bachelor’s degree from National School of Drama

1976: Directed her first major play, Aadhe Adhure

1977: Appointed Head of the Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University

2000: Established Dramatic Art and Design Academy (DADA) with husband Nissar

2005: Appointed Chairperson of National School of Drama

2007: Directed play Nati Binodini; according to critics, her best production to date

Current occupation: Chairperson of National School of Drama

Illustration by Sanjhi Shah
Featured in Harmony — Celebrate Age Magazine
August 2016

 
FLAVIA AGNES

JAHAR DAS

DR PREM SHANKAR GOEL

V K B NAIR

DR S Y QURAISHI

DR HIMANSHI SHELAT

DR LALJI SINGH

SHUVAPRASANNA

DR L SUBRAMANIAM