She wrote her first verse when she was eight years of age. And today she is a renowned poet, author, playwright and translator. Anju Makhija is a Sahitya Akademi award winner and has several books, plays and translations to her credit. Seeking the Beloved, a co-translation of the 16th century Sufi poet, Shah Abdul Latif is one of her important works along with Pickling Season, View from the Web, Poems grow with you, The last train and other plays. Her new book, Mumbai Traps is a collection of six of her plays written over two and a half decades, IF WISHES WERE HORSES, THE LAST TRAIN, COLD GOLD, NOW SHE SAYS SHE’S GOD, MEETING WITH LORD YAMA and OFF THE HOOK .
By Jahnavi Pal
After having spent years in cities like Montreal, New York why Mumbai Traps? Hmm...I guess you can call it city traps as well. But all the plays are actually set in Mumbai therefore the title. But let me tell you it was not intentional. It just so happened that they are Mumbai based plays. I don't think of the title and then write a play. I have been writing over the years and what attracted me was Mumbai life and this city that has so many layers. I think Mumbai is intriguing to many and since I was born in Pune and raised between Pune and Mumbai I did get an inside view of the city. I have looked at the city from different angles as I have travelled in local trains, lived on a farm in Panvel and I have observed everything about it very keenly.
My first play IF WISHES WERE HORSES was bi-lingual and it was staged by Anahita Uberoi as it was set in the streets and in a flat. It deals with women's rights as well. I must add that I was not in favour of Hinglish that was creeping into the theatre scene at that time and suggested it be done bi-lingually. Anahita respected this and presented the play in English with a generous dose of Hindi and Marathi. In fact it was billed as India's first bi-lingual play though now of course we have many such plays. In fact we had actors from the Marathi stage like Kishor Kadam and Nandu Madhav along with Kitu Gidwani acting in it. I do appreciate that Anahita directing this one.
Since the book is being launched online will the plays also be staged online? I definitely wanted a physical book and didn't want it only on the virtual platform. I wanted to have the pleasure of holding this book in my hands. But yes, it is the way things are going now and one sees plays being produced on line.
But live theatre will very much be there. Its an art form that thrives on audience response and its been like that since years. It will not be edged out with the advent of OTT platforms. I think they will all thrive by helping each other grow.
My play COLD GOLD was done by a group online during the recent pandemic. And they are planning to go live with it once things get normal. This crossover is going to be very natural rather than compartmentalised.
Is SEEKING THE BELOVED soon going to be staged as a play? When the book come out it was presented in Bangalore as a multi-media project by the Kabir Project. They presented the stories from the book along with the singers and music. I will not call it a play. It will be a musical. Musicals are not easy but I am in talks with a few directors. So yes, may be someday. Just like my play MEETING WITH LORD YAMA is a verse play but when one reads it it doesn't sound like any other play but obviously it has got more musicality. There are these experimental plays that keep me interested due to my expertise as a poet. Moreover the absurd element is there in most of my plays because I feel Mumbai reality is absurd. Isn't Covid absurd?
You have written your play LAST TRAIN on the train itself? Yes, I would travel from Panvel by train and it is written in a single line on the train itself. It is a political satire in which some absurd things happen. The play takes place entirely at night in a local train compartment. I have heard conversations on the train which I have drawn upon in this play. What are the biggest hurdles a playwright faces?
Scarcity of directors, insufficient funds for production and lack of venues are the biggest hurdles an Indo-English playwright faces. Most of the time, it's only passion that keeps me going.
What way forward for plays? In our country very few plays are published and few read them. In the West, they are freely available and have a good readership. Perhaps due to the pandemic situation, it may be a good time to read plays as we do short stories. Also, more audio recordings of plays may be useful in the period. Many plays do not see the light of the day due to lack of resources. This should not prevent a playwright's work from being published. Just as poets and fiction writers have this privilege, so should dramatists.
*Jahnavi Pal is a journalist, writer and theatre buff
