In pursuit of excellence, he’s still striving to get better
Known as ‘father of modern theatre’, Raj Bisaria founded Theatre Arts Workshop in 1966 and Bhartendu Natya Akademi in 1976
Padma Shri Prof Raj Bisaria started as an actor, but teaching and training became his calling, and he turned to direction. In the 50s, when people believed that actors are born, he laid out the mantra of “training before performance” and started infusing sensibility, discipline and sophistication into the art of theatre.
He founded University Theatre Group in 1962, Theatre Arts Workshop four years later, Bharatendu Natya Akademi (now Bharatendu Academy of Dramatic Arts) in 1976, which was the country’s second full-fledged drama school after National School of Drama (NSD) followed by U.P.’s first repertory in 1980.
Miles to go
Sporting an elegant two-piece suit, his trademark pendant resting on his chest, a colourful scarf under his collar, he cozily sits on his rest chair at his Gomti Nagar residence. The entire wall behind him has thousands of books on the shelf.
With a smile playing on his lips, he says, “I may not have been able to do things the way I wanted to do, but I have not done the things I didn’t want to do.”
He adds, “Fame, success, power and money are very individual things. That was not my motivation, so I don’t have that! You make your own bed and lie in it so you can’t complain about it! In art, you are your own rival and I have miles to go before I sleep. I am just trying to better as my pursuit is of excellence and not of self-satisfaction. So, recently my book came out, I plan to direct a play and so many things.... put a group together.”
The actor
Acting and poetry were the two guiding motivations in his life.
“After my master’s degree, I went to Mumbai as I wanted to become an actor and director, but there was a thick iron wall against my kind of face. I was openly told I was too dark, too thin as it was the age of chocolate and matinee idols. I knocked at many doors, but was told that I was too educated, and I should do something else – go into cinematography or script writing! Those who encouraged me were Raj Kapoor and Prithviraj Kapoor saheb. So, when all doors were shut this (direction, training) became my great love.”
His first theatrical performance was at the IT College auditorium in 1953. He has acted in several English and Hindi plays under his own production. A top-grade actor of Doordarshan since 1978, he has acted in several of his productions. He acted in the first film made by Delhi DD Aap Ka Bunty , Raj Se Swaraj directed by Amal Allana, the serial Bibi Natiyon Wali, Kamleshwar’s Ret Pe Likhe Naam, Muzaffar Ali’s Aagman, Govind Nahlani’s Aaghat, Anubhav Sinha’s Mulk and Mira Nair’s TV series A Suitable Boy (2020).
Making of director, teacher
“In history, a long time back, we had Bharatmuni’s Natya Shastra which talks about aspects of acting. We had a long tradition of classical music and dance, guru-shishya parampara. But then, acting was considered derogatory, unlike now, when it has lots of money and social acceptance involved. In the 50s, we did not have any acting school in India where modern acting (not folk) could be taught which became my guiding factor. In dance, music and instrument, we had the tradition of learning but in acting there was no concept of training before performance.”
In 1956, as president of English Literature Society, he directed his first play (Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The School for Scandal) in which he acted as well. He joined the Department of English at Lucknow University (LU) in 1958. In 1961, he formed University Theatre Group with 11 students, which might be the country’s earliest, but it was made to shut down in two years.
“Finally, I formed Theatre Arts Workshop (TAW) in 1966, which stressed on the mind, body and spirit. In the group, everyone wanted to act, so then I had to suppress the actor in me, and the director took over. The actor brings the character to life whereas the director brings the entire play to life.” Under TAW, he started doing professional theatre in Lucknow and this production included Othello, The Lesson, The White Liars, Black Comedy and later Hindi plays as well.
He founded BNA, which started as a part-time certificate course, then became a regular course and finally became a two-year diploma in 1980.
“From teaching all subjects to it becoming a full-fledged institute, it has been a long journey. I remained its honorary director (from) 1976 till 1990 with two breaks and again till 1994.” Several illustrious actors and technicians of the country consider Bisaria as their guide and mentor. He retired from LU in 1998.
The love continues...
Bisaria has been decorated with several honours, including Padma Shri (1990), Yash Bharti (1994), UP Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1988), Rashtriya Kalidas Samman (2015), besides Senior Fellowship: The Mind of Director and Tagore National Fellowship: Shakespeare’s India Summer.
“Achievements are records of your past work but today is the time for work,” he says.
Last month, his collection of poems I am Not the Gardener was launched in Lucknow. “My foster sister Usha Panje Aroor has put my poems together and brought it out.” He lives with his wife Kiran Raj Bisaria and their only daughter Rajina, trained in Bharatnatyam under Sonal Mansingh, is settled in the US.
On a concluding note, he says, “Little knowledge is a dangerous thing. How many people are there in the theatre for the art of theatre? Most of them are in it for what we can get out of theatre. Today, people think theatre is a steppingstone for films and then only films! I believe in theatre, films and TV, but not one at the cost of another. Theatre for me is not self-indulgence whereas actors want to serve the character of themselves. Art is not made of short cuts. The pursuit of knowledge is not made of short cuts – meditation, sports or love, do we (take) short cuts to it?”