Mumbai Theatre Guide talks to Anupam Kher about the success of his autobiographical play KUCCH BHI HO SAKTA HAI (KBHSH). The veteran actor talks to Aditi Sharma about the play, his performance and his life as it unfolds through the show.
Aditi Sharma
Aditi Sharma (AS): How has the play evolved through 300 shows?
Anupam Kher (AK): There have been no significant additions or subtractions in the script except for the fact that in the end I add an update about where life has taken me lately. Depending on my ease and connectivity with the audience, the play might take on a different nuance. There are people who have seen the play 4 or 5 times and they come backstage to tell me that the play has changed a lot but that reflects a change in my understanding of the play. What has changed significantly in the script, however, is that a number of people I used to talk about in the present tense have passed away, so from hain it's become the.
AS: The idea to do the play came from an offer to write your autobiography. Are you happy you never wrote the autobiography and chose to turn it into a performance instead?
AK: Absolutely. It would not have made an impact at all - on the audience or on me - if I'd written an autobiography. KBHSH has made me come alive as an actor. I have been doing all kinds of roles in cinema, so for me, theatre was not about doing different work. I believe in the theatre of communication and the performance should be such that it becomes an inspiration for the audience. The play should work towards changing people's perspective towards life.
AS: Do you still get jittery before going on stage?
AK: I'm very superstitious and I don't want to sound overconfident just days before a show but even so, I'd say that I'm much more confident now. Initially, I would get stressed about forgetting the lines or maintaining the graph of the play. I focused a lot on the technical aspects of the play which I've stopped doing to a certain extent. Then again, the play gets tweaked on its own because of the way the audience reacts to it. I believe it is a triumph of theatre that we've been able to do 300 shows of an autobiographical play. It's a two-and-a-half hour play and it forces me to be fit enough to carry it through each show.
AS: Have you ever felt like changing anything?
AK: I can do a part 2 of KBHSH, and go all the way to part 10. There are many more events of my life that I'd like to talk about. I'd certainly like to add bits about my relationship with Kirron (wife), or with my father. There is no end to it but it then runs the risk of becoming boring.
AS: What's your favourite sequence of the play?
AK: I like the first half of the play. The second half, post interval, is connected to cinema and is not as exciting for me because it becomes one-dimensional. My time in Shimla, in college, my days as a struggler, my student days at the National School of Drama, my first kiss... add a value to the story telling aspect of the play. The boy from Shimla then had not yet encountered dishonesty and had not lost his sense of wonder and innocence. I find it exciting to re-live him. The part where I talk about my grandmother telling me stories makes the audience think about their own grandmothers. But when I talk about the success or failure in films, or about Subhash Ghai or Mahesh Bhatt, the audience knows who I'm talking about, so the play becomes restrictive.
AS: A number of your peers from the film industry have called it a brave performance. Did you think it would be a brave thing to do when you decided to do it?
AK: They think it is brave because they wonder whether they'll be able to do it - be brutally naked and put their own life on stage. But doing KBHSH gives me an edge because I've disclosed everything; there is nothing left to fear. Audience members tell me, ''Aap mein bade guts hain, ji.'' For me, every show becomes cathartic and I feel like the tallest man on earth, post the show.
AS: KBHSH happened during a rough phase.. Do you think theatre came to your rescue?
AK: My own experiences came to my rescue. The play has given me maximum courage, satisfaction, work and money. It's become my life's philosophy - courage decides what you become in life. It's also inspired my book, The Best Thing About You Is You!
AS: KBHSH will turn 10 in August this year. How long do you think the play will live?
AK: I hope to perform the last show in a wheelchair some 20 years later. I'll continue to perform the show until I'm physically able to. Even after I'm unable to perform, the words will live on. I want to keep the boy from Shimla alive as long as possible.
AS: Did you ever imagine that the boy from Shimla would end up acting in Silver Linings Playbook (2012), an Oscar-nominated film?
AK: The boy from Shimla is the reference point of the play. The fact that he acted in a film nominated in 8 categories at the Oscars, alongside Robert De Niro proves that Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai.
*Aditi Sharma enjoys watching theatre, and writing about it.
Aditi Sharma (AS): How has the play evolved through 300 shows?
