Happy Ranajit is based out of Odisha. He came to Delhi to join the National School of Drama(NSD) in 2005. Since then he has been involved in directing and acting in theatre and films. He was last seen in the movie BA Pass (2012), directed by Ajay Behl. Now, he also teaches at the NSD, and will be seen next in Nila Madhab Panda's film, Kaun Kitne Paani Mein. His latest project was to direct HAMARI ADHURI KAHAANI, a play that is based on the book written by director Mahesh Bhatt and Suhrita Sengupta titled 'All That Could Have Been'. We talk to him about his experience, challenges and adapting the book for the stage.  By Nishtha Juneja Nishtha Juneja (NJ): A movie can go into the details of the book since it is longer than an average play. How have you adapted the book for the stage? Happy Ranjit (HR): A play has all possibilities of going into metaphors. It can go beyond realism, which has been a plus point for us to explore. We have also touched upon the several nuances of the novel. NJ: What are some of the challenges you faced? HR: One of the challenges was bringing the different locales at a design level and to make the play different from the film. But, we also kept in mind the narrative and our interpretation of the text. I think these were some of the challenges in the making. NJ: What is going to be special about the adaptation? Anything that we haven't seen in the film? HR: The play has its own identity which is completely different than the film. There are many characters in the play which are not in the film. For example, the motherhood of Vasudha is explored in the play, and also the feminist interpretation of the text. While the film was about the love story, the play is about the journey of a single mother, and finding her happiness, is the prime focus. NJ: You are an NSD graduate and now you are part of the faculty there? How does it feel to complete a full circle? HR: I feel extremely great and blessed. NJ: Are you always happy as your name suggests? HR: It's my real name. My parents thought I will bring happiness to the family perhaps. And I try my best to be happy and jolly and spread joy and happiness where ever I go. *Nishtha Juneja likes to act and write about theatre. Nishtha Juneja is passionate about dance and food and has completed a post-graduate diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute for Communication (XIC). read / post your comments More Interviews Chandrakant Kulkarni - Interview Kshitij Patwardhan - Interview Paresh Bhatt - Interview Ali Asgar & Aasif Sheikh - Interview Manoj Joshi & Geeta Manek Part 1 - Interview Manoj Joshi & Geeta Manek Part 2 - Interview Sachin Khedekar - Interview Sumeet Raghavan Interview Ramanjit Kaur & Ruhani Singh Interview Avneesh Mishra Part 2 - Interview The Chai Queens Full Interview Avneesh Mishra Part 1 - Interview Sharib Hashmi and Tannishtha Chatterjee - Interview Randhir Ranjan Roy - Interview Om Katare Yatri Theatre Founder - Interview Apoorv Sharma Interview with Dharmendra Gohil Sohaila Kapur Denzil Smith Interview Ananth Mahadevan Interview Bharat Dabholkar Interview Om Katare Interview with Shaili Sathyu Purva Naresh Rhys Sebastian Dsouza Subhrajyoti Barat Aditya Rawal Shweta Gulati Bhavikk Shah Interview KARN Artists MADHAV Artists Pritta Mathur Thakur Interview Atul Tiwari & Priita Mathur Interview Manish Chaudhari And Shruti Mishra Interview With Swanandi Tikekar Interview With MAHADEV Casts Masood Akhtar Padmavati Rao Anmol Vellani Interview With Mita Vashisht Interview With Jaimini Pathak Interview with Jeff Goldberg Interview With Sunil Shanbag Interview With Rupesh Tillu and Abhishek Narayan Tathagata Chowdhury Interview Interview With Nadir khan, Devika Shahani and Avantika Bahl Tathagata Chowdhury Neeraj Shirvaikar Ram Ganesh Kamatham Tannaz Irani Lillete Dubey Sharodiya Chowdhury and Sarthak Sharma Interview With Vishaal Asrani and Jiji Subhi BAKUL THAKKAR AND SURYA GOVLE Devendra Rao Interview Sharvari Lohokare Interview Vijay Kenkre Interview Trupti Thakkar and Ankit Gor Interview Aditya Rawal and Zahan Kapoor Umesh Shukla Interview Interview With Juhi Babbar Soni Mallika Shah Interview J BRANDON HILL INTERVIEW Anahita Uberoi Interview Dr. Shweta Pendse Interview Interview with jamini Pathak Ashok Pandey Gagan Dev Riar Interview Taranjit Kaur Pankaj Pathakji Interview Vipul Vithlani Interview Saurabh Nayyar Interview Mukta Barve Interview Vihaan Samat Interview Vijay Kumar Interview Umesh Kamat Interview Jatin Sarna Interview Debanshu Shekhar Interview Vandana Bhushan Interview Vikas Bahari Interview Trinetra Tiwari Interview Anand Ingale Interview Deshik Vansadia Interview Kapil Dev Interview Arvind Gaur Interview Niketan Sharma Interview Ipshita Chakraborty Singh Interview Ramesh Talwar Interview Nivedita Bhattacharya Interview Jeff Goldberg Interview Ajeet Singh Palawat Interview Amitosh Nagpal Interview Ajitesh Gupta Anshulika Dubey and Aakash Prabhakar Ulka Mayur Shiv Tandan Interview Hemant Jha Interview Sangita Joshi Interview Akarsh khurana Interview with Parul Rana Satchit Puranik Interview Raell Padamsee Interview Simar Singh Interview Siddharth Randeria Interview Chandrakant Kulkarni Interview Trishla Patel Interview Danish Husain Interview Anju Makhija Interview Swati Das Interview Paromita Chatterjee Interview Akriti Singh Interview Vivek Raj Tandon Interview Avneesh Mishra Interview Imran Rasheed Interview Choiti Ghosh Interview Ila Arun & KK Raina Juuhi Babbar Sonii Interview Jay Upadhyay Interview Bhakti Rathod Interview Chandrashekhar Gokhale Interview Preeta Mathur Interview Denzil Smith Interview Rajendra Butala Interview Amitesh Grover Interview Vighnesh Joshi Interview Rajesh Deshpande Interview Mohammad Ali Baig Interview Dolly Thakore Interview M. 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Interview 2 Timira Gupta Jyoti Dogra Lillette Dubey Mahesh Dattani Chandan Roy Sanyal Sunil Shanbag (ii) Jairaj Patil Jehan Manekshaw K Raja Ravi Verma Sankar Venkateswaran Heisnam Tomba Hariharan Jamini Pathak Hilda David Satish Alekar Vir Das Ranjit Hoskote Om Katare Nipun Dharmadhikari Satyadev Dubey Dipan Ray Stefan Kaegi Zafar Karachiwala Dakxin Bajrange Makarand Sathe Ramu Ramanathann Cyrus Dastur Shekhar Sen Benjamin Juhel Chaitanya Tamhane And Sudeep Modak Sujata Mehta Asif Basra Barry John Nagesh Bhosale Astad Deboo Manhar Gadhia Sandesh Bhandare Usha Ganguli Sushama Deshpande & Suhas Joshi Jyoti Vyas Arundhati Nag Habib Tanvir Ramu Ramanathan Pushan Kripalani Harold Pinter Rajeev Ravindranathan Rajendra Gupta Viji Iyengar Sunil Shanbag Darshan Jariwalla Smriti Irani Atul Kumar1 Ashwin Gidwani Toral Shah Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal1 Shaili Sathyu Sanjay Narvekar Rohini Hattangady Dr. Ashok Ranade Vandana Sajnani Mahesh Elkunchwar Madhu Rye Mahesh Thakur Srimathi Madiman Kinnari Vohra Joy Fernandes C.K. Thakkar Jameel Khan Anupama Jayaram Lilelette Dubey Avatar Gill Dharmendra Gohil Rajesh Puri Kumud Mishra Kumar Shahu Meenal Patel Mujeeb Khan Anant Mudra Utkarsh Mazumdar Shekhar Sen1 Manav Kaul Rati Agnihotri Smita Jaykar Uday Chandra Rahul Da Cunha Atul Kumar Manoj Joshi Jaimini Pathak Boman Irani Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal Naseerudin Shah Joy Fernandez Kamlesh Mota Dinesh Thakur    Discussion Board

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