Oscar Wilde once said, “I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” That is the dynamism of the theatre. It introduces us to the truest essence of the human through its stage and curtains. Today, we bring you the journey of one such actor who portrays the finer nuances of life on stage. In a recent exchange with The Talented Indian, Gaurav Dubey recalled his journey towards his dream, i.e. theatre.

Born in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, Gaurav graduated from the University of Delhi. Ever since he was a child he was interested in the theatre but his middle-class background did not prove instrumental in nurturing his passion. Although his love for acting was clear since childhood as he watched movies and used to wonder the magic behind the song, dance and music, over the years, like any other kid, his interests kept changing from becoming a pilot to a lawyer. However, his love for acting stayed intact and it was something that he wanted to pursue all along.

As a theatre actor, he participated in numerous ‘nukkad nataks’ portraying the real issues of society and raising awareness among people. His street plays include AAJEVIKA regarding equal rights for women, DASTAK that talks about the harassment faced by the women in the society and PEHCHAAN that puts the limelight on LGBTQ community, among others.

He believes the street plays that he performs not just raises awareness for others but for themselves too since before the act lands on paper, it has a long process of research that includes sharing of real-life stories and meeting different people from varied lifestyles, approaches and perceptions. Such amalgamation of various encounters molds the senses of the artist and craves unparalleled talent.

It was during his third year that he discovered the magical world of theatre and decided to pursue it. The best part of this journey was the unconditional support of his father. Inspired by the actor Raj Kapoor, he admires the innocence in his eyes and appreciates the social message his films conveyed. This ability of theatre and cinema to bring about a social change turned out to be his motivation for his art.

It has been three years since he has been learning his craft and all this while he understood that failure for him is when he is unable to characterize himself as the one assigned to him by the director. He also highlighted the importance of being educated in the craft of acting, by stating that “in an industry where the definition of hero or success needs to evolve, such education comes in handy while sailing towards ones ambition.” Finally, while concluding he stated that he aspires to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and we at The Talented Indian wish him good luck for his dream. May we see you on big screen soon!

Natural Talent is like an engine, you need to fuel it with hard work every day, these kind words of Nikhil Chaudhary has made him a marvellous actor and director. In a recent interview by The Talented Indian team, he shared his journey from Kanpur to IIT Delhi and then becoming one of the best theatre artists in the city.

He was born in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh and further moved to Delhi for B.Tech proceeding towards M.Tech at IIT, Delhi. He was passionate about acting and directing and believed that it was a natural activity that everybody performs daily.

After his graduation, he set up a theatre society called ‘Alchemy’ along with three alumni of IIT Delhi and MNNIT Allahabad and aimed at inspiring young aspirers of acting and provide a stage for them to follow their passion. He believes in theatre being a life-changing activity that has the power of transforming people’s lives through imaginative storytelling and creating a cultural force.

He is inspired by Actor Matthew McConaughey and Director Steven Spielberg and aspires to become a filmmaker and a global theatrical artist. He also draws motivation from time and believes that when hard times arrive people to swing with the flow, be relaxed, and come back strongly. 

His favourite memory of college days were friends, tea, and lectures. As he learned and grew to become one of the best actor and directors he had performed and directed more than 40 shows and further in 2016 he was honoured to have been trained with the members of the Shakespeare Society at University of Leicester, United Kingdom and also had the opportunity to act in ‘Merchant of Venice’ with ‘Dramatech’ group that received an award for their performance as ‘Best English Play’ by Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi.

Speaking of encouraging the younger generation that aspires to be like him, he wishes to motivate them to do whatever in life because it’s the only one that you get and we are ought to use it wisely. He believes that every individual is talented in his own way and no talent must be wasted. He values people and wants them to stage their skills and become better at it with each passing day.

Even through the ups and downs of life, there wasn’t a moment where he thought that acting was not his cup of tea. It was that zeal and motivation that kept him afloat through the rough waves in life and the struggles have been his best teacher so far.

It is said theatre is a sacred place for actors, Pragya Sharma affirms the thought and believes a person should pursue theatre at least once. Born and brought up in Delhi, she used to be an introvert and diffident child but theatre succored her to come out of that cocoon and perform in front of the audience.

Recounting a childhood incident, Pragya describes her excitement of being selected in a play and how she stumbled with her lines on the D-day. She tells that the motivation behind her ardor for theater alludes to that day. She always wanted to be inside the “entertainment box”, television, as a child but it was not earlier than in class 11th when she realized that science wasn’t her subject of interest and dropped her juvenile dream of becoming an astronaut and joined theater inspired by a cousin.

As much as she is gratified towards theater, she is equally thankful to her theater teacher, Shilpi Marwaha who always invested trust and belief in her. Pragya tells that she owes not only theater lessons but various life lessons to her as well. She quotes one of them to be “Jab himmat khatam ho jaati hai tab taakat kaam aati hai”. She also admires the work of Al Pacin, especially in Scent of a woman.

It is one’s perseverance and dedication that paves the way, she believes. She also highlights the irony of the skeptical society that believes that hard work isn’t paying if it doesn’t pay you money. It is when we stop relying on having someone’s back and begin to whet our skills in the desired craftwork no matter what, then is the time we start moving towards the place where we always wanted to be, she tells.

The felicity and contentment that performing on the stage brings her to push her gusto for theater further, discarding all the bubbles of negative thoughts. Pursuing theater, she met inspiring people during her nukkad natak performances who fascinated her with their real-life tales. “It makes me realize the power of what I do”, she says.

Believing in the power of failure in molding the best sculpture out of you, she adores her failures and buckles up to try once again with added efforts. She signs off with a message that in a life with an inconsistent future one must believe in nature’s secretive helping ways and be persistent in working towards one’s dream.

Tansen, a beautiful play about the journey of an artist is presented by The Dramatic Art and Design Association. Written by Mohammad Faheem and Sudheer Rikhari and directed by Govind Singh Yadav, talks about the journey every artist has. The cast of the play includes senior theatre actors like Sudheer Rikhari, Mohammad Faheem and Ridhima Bagga.

An artist’s journey of an endless search is filled with ups and downs, acceptance and rejection, pain and satisfaction. The play “Tansen” explores this journey through the life of the legendary Tansen. The play begins with a dilemma about “Ibadat”(worship) and “Ishq”(love). Is the search of a destination called love or is losing oneself in that search called love? The intention is to talk about the dilemmas of an artist and explore the factors that make an artist feel liberated and also what makes him feel caught in his own emotions, expectations and pride.

“Tansen” is not only a documentation of Tansen’s life but also a parallel search of an artist that is never ending.

The performance aspect of the play includes a wide range of theatrical devices. It consists of the three major elements of performing arts namely music, dance and drama which are blend together to say the story. The play also focuses on the journey of Hindustani classical music from its origin where it was performed in the form of “Dhrupad” till today’s “Khayal Gaayaki”. Therefore, it includes live music ranging from Dhrupad, Qawwali, Hori to Khayal Gaayaki along with live instruments namely Sitar, Tabla, Pakhawaj, Harmonium and Tanpura that give a different flavour to the play.

To get a glimpse of the cultural, musical and philosophical aspect of Indian history, this play is a must watch.

Maddy aka Manoj Verma started his career few years back as an RJ and started hosting events as an emcee. After a few years, he got an opportunity to host a Food Show for News Channel “CNEB”, an automobile show & another food show. In the mean while he continued working as emcee for events.

Other show which he was a part of was “Wah Chaudhary”, aired on DD Kishan with ace actors like Ravi Jhankal & Banwaari Jhol. Currently, he plays the role of Ajay Chadha in “Zindagi Ki Mahek” aired on Zee TV, under the production of Production of Sourabh Tewari.

Here is a small portfolio of Maddy