Azaad Bharti, core team member of Karma Kala Manch speaks to Mumbai Theatre Guide about his theatre group and of his work in theatre, television and films. Born and brought up in Kolkata, Azaad worked for various companies after completing his Diploma in Sales and Marketing. But Theatre is where his heart is. Karma Kala Manch is showcasing four of its productions on 23rd January 2011. Click here to find out more.  Deepa Punjani When and how did the idea for Karma Kala Manch originate? Some of my friends (Manav, Kunal, Amitt, Renucka, Vilas, Saby) and me used to do theatre with different theatre groups. We discovered one common thing amongst us - the passion for theatre. So we decided to form our own theatre group. 'Karma' was suggested by Manav Jain, 'Kala' was suggested by Kunal and 'Manch' was suggested by me. Thus 'Karma Kala Manch,' also called K2M was born on 25th December 2009. You describe your theatre group as a 'co-operative' theatre group. What do you mean by that? K2M doesn't belong to any one person. We hold elections. The elected President and Secretary choose their executive committee. And the group's success is the result of the team work. Elections happen every six months. Individuals joining our group can also become executive members. At a later stage they can also stand for the posts of the President and the Secretary. K2M is committed to give opportunities to new comers to showcase their talents. Our motto is to ensure that every person in our group should be able to earn their bread and butter from theatre. Our mission is to make sure that our theatre reaches every eye. That is an ambitious motto. Is your group's livelihood being sustained by theatre alone? No... at present K2M is not the source of income for its members, but our vision is to make theatre an earning source like film & television. We are working towards it. How did you get interested in the theatre? I used to see the nukkad nataks of Jana Natya Manch and since then I had this passion for doing plays. I love the way theatre works. The live performance without any re-takes, and especially the rehearsal process. In one line I would say that I love theatre more than television & films. What kinds of plays do you like directing? The play should carry a message and should be enjoyed by everyone. You are also a writer. How many original scripts have you written so far? Do you also write for other media such as film and television? My original scripts are EK NANHI CHEEKH, ZINDA LAASH, SANVIDHAAN. I have written Parwaaz, a television series for DD and three short films. Right now I am writing two Hindi films. Whose work do you look up to in the theatre? Sunil Shanbag, Makarand Deshpande & Manav Kaul. 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Interview 2 Timira Gupta Jyoti Dogra Lillette Dubey Mahesh Dattani Chandan Roy Sanyal Sunil Shanbag (ii) Jairaj Patil Jehan Manekshaw K Raja Ravi Verma Sankar Venkateswaran Heisnam Tomba Hariharan Jamini Pathak Hilda David Satish Alekar Vir Das Ranjit Hoskote Om Katare Nipun Dharmadhikari Satyadev Dubey Dipan Ray Stefan Kaegi Zafar Karachiwala Dakxin Bajrange Makarand Sathe Ramu Ramanathann Cyrus Dastur Shekhar Sen Benjamin Juhel Chaitanya Tamhane And Sudeep Modak Sujata Mehta Asif Basra Barry John Nagesh Bhosale Astad Deboo Manhar Gadhia Sandesh Bhandare Usha Ganguli Sushama Deshpande & Suhas Joshi Jyoti Vyas Arundhati Nag Habib Tanvir Ramu Ramanathan Pushan Kripalani Harold Pinter Rajeev Ravindranathan Rajendra Gupta Viji Iyengar Sunil Shanbag Darshan Jariwalla Smriti Irani Atul Kumar1 Ashwin Gidwani Toral Shah Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal1 Shaili Sathyu Sanjay Narvekar Rohini Hattangady Dr. Ashok Ranade Vandana Sajnani Mahesh Elkunchwar Madhu Rye Mahesh Thakur Srimathi Madiman Kinnari Vohra Joy Fernandes C.K. Thakkar Jameel Khan Anupama Jayaram Lilelette Dubey Avatar Gill Dharmendra Gohil Rajesh Puri Kumud Mishra Kumar Shahu Meenal Patel Mujeeb Khan Anant Mudra Utkarsh Mazumdar Shekhar Sen1 Manav Kaul Rati Agnihotri Smita Jaykar Uday Chandra Rahul Da Cunha Atul Kumar Manoj Joshi Jaimini Pathak Boman Irani Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal Naseerudin Shah Joy Fernandez Kamlesh Mota Dinesh Thakur    Discussion Board

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