this will go on till ...kailashnath weds madhumati..

Contd.... 13th feb
This sat was a fresh start...a lot more new things to learn. We all came fresh with no clue of what to expect today.
We all started with and intensive dance session on the beats of our own popular’ Bhangra’ and some folk Tamil numbers. Within no time we were exhausted and i personally had no energy...it felt like all our charges were drained
Lesson learnt was its so important for actors to be fit....really fit. So that each time i perform i can give my 100% and this is possible if and only if i am fit physically.
We soon went into dance of expressions and this too was not easy dancing with jus expressions was so very difficult.
I suddenly stated feeling that acting is not all that easy.( i knew expressions were important in acting but this exercise bluntly got me down and made me realise my weakness had to work and work hard i felt personally.
We then had a session of dance over a very old Hindi song. The idea was to jus freak out on this too and give as many expressions as possible ( the dance steps weren’t very important.) This too got me a bit disturbed as i felt i was too caught up focussing on the flow of my body to the music and not my expressions)
I wasn’t really enjoying it i guess. the process of exploring myself through dance was successful ( in sense i realised this was one of my weakness )
We had a small one to one session with sachin ( our director) He told me ,that comedy could be one of my strengths and i jus needed to introspect and look deeper for it . What i understood is to know your strengths form your instincts and to channelize it that’s was we were working at.
I also realised that yes i naturally was inclined to comedy and that i that iam known (among my close friends to be a person who entertains them with witty jokes and situations)
I felt sachin somehow read this and wanted to tap my potential to do comedy. i need to explore it more deeply and fine tune my skills. In this regard introspection helps to get connected. with oneself.
What we did after this was nice we had situations of salesman to sell a product..this is where my instincts really charge me and i quickly got in to the character of a south Indian sales man.
I loved and enjoyed what i did i jus followed my instincts and the improvisations jus kept happening. If i enjoy what i do ,i perform well this is wha ti realised and this is what i experienced in my first play also. And even when you keep doing the same scenes again and again the performance keep getting finer.
We ended our session with production methods and ways of making it reach to more people. We also were to present info about kudiyattam ( a traditional theatre art form originating from kerala)
In today’s dance explorations i liked what vasant did though many may not agree;. But i jus looked what he was exploring.
Im seriously looking forward to learn more from all my sessions and evolve as a better person and a better actor.

chilsag experience

Chilsag experience.
It is about three months from my last theatre stage experience and the last time was also my first time. I still hadn’t come out of my MISFIT experience that i came across “CHILSAG” got to know from my friend about the auditions happening at ‘rangashankara ‘for two of chilsag’s theatre productions. .
I auditioned and to my surprise and luck i got selected. Though somewhere deep inside i knew i would be picked)
This was going to be my first experience to act with a director completely new to me and the experience of working with a new team had already got me excited. It was 6th of Feb 2010.
I didn’t want to be late for the rehearsals. Loads of things running in my head. How is it going to be? What of i forget the dialogues? What character will i be playing? etc ...etc ...etc...
All of this stopped when i met sachin gupta ( the director with little or not many expressions on this face) This made it difficult for me to read him. He asked us to give in 100% of ourselves in whatever we were going to do that noon.
We were 6 of us 4 girls and 2 boys. Out of them i knew one actor Rency my co actor at misfit.
We got started with some exercises. first of it being that we were animals at zoo. This was tough one for me at least more that it being difficult it was the fact that i was not totally comfortable with the whole scene. I was too conscious of people around me and moreover the fact to become like an animal was not a easy job for me at least..
It soon ended. Then came the exercise that we we had to communicate through singing some tune rhythm except tunes from boll ywood. though this was difficult i loved it.and the moment i started enjoying it. It was getting better. The key here i learnt that start enjoying every ting you do.and ur performance gets better and better..
Next was the we were divided in 2 groups and we had to takeup any song and sing it besura.... ( not in the original tune or rather distorted tune) This was really fun....and i was amazed at our ability and disability to sing songs with distorted tune.. Anju did it the best i felt.. personally.. Amazingly besura
Then came some quick improvisation situations for 2 as a group. This was the one i loved the most. I fact i felt all did really well in this act. I felt all were getting better and better. As the activities progressed.
We also discusses on issues ranging from Telengana to keeping Bangalore clean. And to corruption and the FEAR (that does not exist with us citizens) Fear of our system.
Nice and i realised the importance of social contribution. And remembered Mallika sarabhai ‘s TED talk series in mysore where she speaks of theatre or art form can reach to places where politics cant reach. To convey messages like “safe drinking water techniques” through a street play also issues like family planning and AIDS and other issues can be conveyed through art form and theatre being one of them.
This session gave me food for thought. And i began questioning the purpose of everything that i did. And its relevance to others. (This is a sort of long term learning process i thought) .
After this we also did a live TV reporter enactment and it was interesting to see the varied explanations of people to the same situations. The more clarity you have on what you want to say the better you be able to convey it is what i realised. And its important to add the finer details to your performance (GOD is in details i realised this as an experience)
this day was a day of simple yet important learning as an aspiring theatre actor i am open to learning from anything and everybody that i come across. I would like to quote from a recent SRK meeting students at IIPM Bangalore “Success cannot give you wisdom. It is failure that is an amazing teacher.”

http://www.chilsag.com/

http://chilsagchillies.com

first experience..... on stage

It was Nov 22 2009, today was the first time i was to be on stage facing live audiences little did i know that i would go this far. The play was called " The disgraced " i could somehow relate to this name.. :) well...and after 2 1/2 months of training with MISFIT this was the day where we all were to become stars....( stars in the eyes of our near and dear ones) also a little more than that actually. we we all were nervous backstage because for all of us at MISFIT this was going to be a first live experience. Usually the course ends in just a presentation but this time our " RATAN" felt we take this a little further and as this was also making a inaugural beginning for Misfit Theatre factory he felt it would be apt if we do a proper play and present it to the audience.

its intresting the whole experience of seeing and getting to know what actually goes behind making a play. the production side.. the late haours of working for rehersals...( i came back home at about 3.30 am..) all the way from bannerghatta... but i tell you it was totally worth the experience. of course back at home..... my wife...very supportive sometimes felt its a bit too much strain for me....but soon realised the fact that i enjoyed it.

well about my character... wellwell well......i was gonna play somehting i never thought i will do ...i was playing a "GAY" that too selling movie tickets in BLACK....this sounds funny na....the whole play was actually a comedy......though the name dosen suggest so... i was also to open the show.. freak.....thsi happened jus 2 days before the play... thsi was decided...and at first i panicked.. :) but held it well .. i felt... so...

The play went on well..and he audence to loved it...after theplay we had an interactive session with the audience for their comments...on our perfomance....well......i was surprise dto know people loved jus loved my act... some thought i was indeed a "GAY..... " ....i took it as a compliment...though ...:)

every one performed well really well...

the play wa s success ...

im now looking forwar to do more plays..

new directors.. etc.. i also wish to perform @ the rangashankara.... lets see how soon or how late,,,

cheers till next