The art of survival

Yatri’s steerer, Katare, like countless others before and after him landed in Mumbai from Madhya Pradesh in 1975 to get a foothold in Bollywood. He also dabbled in a theatre that was just beginning to take root, he says. The setting up of Prithviby Jennifer and Shashi Kapoor around 1978 helped several theatrewallahs dare to dream of putting their ideas on stage. "Those who were running between theatre and films found a fixed location, a place of their own to flock to," recalls Katare. "I was shunting between films and theatre," he adds. The decision to set up Yatri helped everything fall into place. "When I finally decided that theatre was it, ki sirf ab Yatri ko hi chalana hai, then I started concentrating on all aspects of theatre: lighting, make-up, costumes…" Yatri’s first production was the late Sharad Joshi’s Ek Tha Gadhaa, and early productions included Sakharam Binder and Jungli Kabootar.

Even as the elements of theatre — scripting, rehearsals, make-up, props and costumes — were falling into place, negotiations were on for sponsorship. Early on itself, corporate largesse helped many a script make it to stage. "R Mohan of Good Knight helped the group five years from 1978 itself," says Katare. The group also began tapping othercorporates. But the coins started dropping for the group when they were approached by the Tata Consultancy Services to use their skills to help launch its accounting software, EX. The group came up with a complete script to market the product, an effort which helped them financially as well as got them other product launches, like some more for TCS and for the Birlas.

Purists may balk at this use of theatre for product launches, but, as art critic Shanta Gokhale points out, "Theatre, specially Indian language theatre, seldom gets sponsorship. Corporate sponsorships happens because theatre cannot survive in the way it is supposed to." Unlike classical music, which has enjoyed the patronage of the rich, theatre has always been the wandering group which nobody patronised, she points out. Concurs Katare, "Mumbai’s audiences want entertainment. If we tell them the play is a comedy, they ask, is it a full comedy?! You can’t bear the costs of a loss-making play for more than three to four shows."

Yatri’s mix ofprofessional theatre and market-savviness helps it stage at least two or three new productions every year as well as keep at least seven plays running in theatres every year. Around 25 to 30 of the actresses and actors are regulars. Says Damini Kanwal, who has been with the group for nearly 11 years, "What attracted me to theatre is the fact that this is one art form where the audience reacts immediately to you." Theatre apart, Damini also acts in TV serials. "If you come to theatre thinking you can survive in it, forget it," she bluntly says. "You can’t possibly depend on theatre for a living."

Adds Soumitro Bagchi, part of Kaalchakra’s cast who was picked up from the first ever acting workshop that Katare conducted eight years ago, "Managerial skills are as important as are a good performance and a script." The group’s members shore up on other skills like make-up and lighting as well. "Just delivering lines is not theatre. It is necessary to understand this art form in all totality," points outSoumitro.

Katare firmly believes, "Whatever we have built up today, our audience, our contacts, is only because of good theatre. A play will run only if the performances are good and if high professional standards are maintained."