Brijendra Kala has worked in many films in his Bollywood career spanning more than 18 years. His journey in Bollywood began way back in 2003 when Brijendra bagged a small role of a newspaper vendor in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s film Haasil. Brijendra is known for portraying some dynamic and realistic characters in films and a lot of credit for that goes to his theatre experience of more than 17 years. Some of his notable performances can be seen in films like Jab We Met (2007), Paan Singh Tomar (2012), Bharat (2019), Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019) and many more. In a chit-chat with IWMBuzz, Brijendra gets candid about his theatre journey, future of theatre and a lot more. Read to find out –
Tell us a bit about how and where your theatre journey started?
Well, I hail from Mathura and my theatre and the overall cinematic journey started in a rather unplanned manner. I was very young and I saw a performance on stage at a very tender age. That’s when I kind of felt that this is what I eventually want to do going forward in life and that’s how the journey started. Eventually, I came to Mumbai and things just went on with the flow.
How do you think theatre develops an actor’s personality?
Well, theatre has a different role when it comes to developing an actor’s personality. Theatre helps one to get the discipline and nuances of acting right and it is very important when you eventually go ahead to take up acting as a profession. However now, the dimensions of acting have changed as today, the demand is for more ‘natural’ and less of acting. So sometimes, new actors can get confused. But theatre will teach you the discipline and will help in overall grooming as an actor.
What do you think about the current status of theatre in the country?
Sadly enough, theatre in our country compared to theatre in the western countries is pretty different. In our country, theatre and the overall cost of ‘Rang Maanch’ is very expensive. Ticket prices are very costly as well. On the other hand, the kind of theatre experience that I have seen in places like London etc is very different. Over there, the audience around the Opera House is so excited and passionate. I am not saying the audience here is not passionate. But sometimes the high ticket costs can become a problem. Now the question that comes from the other end is ‘If you can pay 400/500 rupees to watch a movie, why can’t you pay for theatre?’ But then again, it cannot be forced. So there needs to be certain measures taken to improve the overall demand and craze around theatre.
Lastly, what do you think is the solution going forward to this problem?
Well, Bade bade diggaj iss problem ka solution nahi de paye toh main kaun hoon? But haan, I feel ticket prices should definitely go down to attract more audience. The people who are associated with theatre production and ‘rang manch’ need to come to equilibrium so that we find a solution mutually. Also, we need to find more ways to get more and more shows with more convenient timings so that every kind of audience can see different theatre plays.