Interview: Ali Fazal set to return to theatre after a gap of two years

Fazal is set to return to theatre after a gap of two years; says “theatre is like an actor’s nectar”.

Mumbai

Fazal is set to return to theatre after a gap of two years; says “theatre is like an actor’s nectar”. (Facebook)

Bollywood actor Ali Fazal started his career as a theatre artist. In fact, he bagged his first film, 3 Idiots (2009), when director Rajkumar Hirani spotted him on the stage. But the actor hasn’t been able to do theatre for the past couple of years because of his film projects. However, Ali is set to return to the stage now with a play called White Rabbit Red Rabbit. It has been written by an Iranian playwright, Nassim Soleimanpour.

“I haven’t done theatre in the longest time, but this one came to me suddenly. Vivek Madan (the director of the festival at which the play will be staged) told me that a lot of actors were shying away from the play’s concept, but it sounded interesting to me,” says the actor.

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Interestingly, the play doesn’t require the involvement of a director, rehearsals or a set. The actors get the script for the first time when the show gets staged and has to perform.

“It’s a world famous play by Soleimanpour. He wrote it and sent it out to other playwrights in the world since he was forbidden to travel . He was banned from obtaining a passport to travel out of Iran, because he refused to comply with the mandatory military service enforced by his country. So, he devised a play that could travel the world without him. It’s his way of being part of the performance, without actually being there. He has written every single instruction on the script. The day I get on the stage, I will be handed the script,” says Ali, adding that performing on stage gives him a high.

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“Theatre gives me a different high. I make sure that I do a play in every three years . Theatre is like an actor’s nectar, like how cinema is a director’s medium. I return to the stage time and again to see if I am worth anything,” says the actor.

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