"It all happened because of... how shall I put it...mutti bhar siyaasatdaan. Just a handful of politicians brought on the Partition. So many people were killed, so many lost their homes...Did anyone go door to door asking people where they wanted to stay? No. The worst sufferers are always the common people. And today it is happening again. Ordinary folk have no problems with eachother. When I go to the Maidan in the mornings I am with my friends Amal da and Surya da. We walk we chat and have tea together. Everyone loves and respects me. Even in Mumbai all the IPTA actors are very close. We celebrate festivals together be it Eid or Ganesh Chaturthi... Where is the problem? It is only political design that sees hostility and danger. "Masood Akhtar was talking about Partition. He was in Kolkata to perform in Sundaram's latest production, Asghar Wajahat's play JIS LAHORE NAHI DEKHYA... The play had been translated into Bengali, probably for the first time, by Arindam Dasgupta and titled LAHORE 1947. Masood is playing a major role in it, that of Nasir Kazmi, a well known Urdu poet. Since there are more shows of Lahore lined up Masood will be a frequent visitor. He is also getting offers from other theatre groups. "All my theatre friends are saying come and act in one of our plays also". Masood is comfortable in Kolkata. "I was born here, so were all my siblings. My grandfather came away from a village called Sultanpur in UP in the 1925. But we have all lived in Park Circus. We have heard often from family friends how my father refused to budge during Partition. Many of his friends left but he and my mother kept saying we are fine where we are. We will not leave our home in Kolkata"
By Sebanti Sarkar
Q: Born and brought up in Kolkata you must have seen a lot of Bengali theatre?
MA: Naa ekdomee na! (He breaks into Bengali and laughs loudly) You see I come from a very different background. Our family had nothing to do with theatre, cinema...any kind of culture. All I saw of films was at the annual film outing with my parents. Films like Pakeezah...you know.
My father was in the transport business. We had trucks and trailers going to and from Kidderpore docks. And all of us were naturally expected to fall in line, join the business. My eldest brother had already joined... But I always wanted to do something different. Strangely enough I didn't know about Bengali theatre or any theatre for that matter. It was only when I was in college in Bhawanipur, I heard that Hindi theatre was happening at Sangeet Kala Mandir.
And so I went and watched some plays. Then I joined Adakar a Hindi theatre group and for two and half years I was training under Krishna Kumar ji
But my friends were all telling me to go to Bombay. I asked my teacher he said yes you can go, I will give you a letter to an actor of IPTA (Indian People's Theatre Association) and he will take you in. So I went and on 23rd December 1979 I joined the IPTA.
To begin with they said you just watch. So I used to hang around running errands. I used to get tea from the nearby shop for the likes of AK Hangal and Rohini Hattangadi... (laughs)
Q: Wasn't it difficult living in an unknown city without a regular job?
MA: Initially a family friend put me up but then they left for the USA and I was practically homeless. A sound recordist took me in. I stayed for two years in his garage on a wooden bench. Then I moved to a lodge in Goregaon. There were five beds in a room so small that if you stretched your legs you would hit the other person's head.
Q: What about your family, did they encourage you?
MA: They hadn't known anything about Adakar or what I was up to. And they were stunned when I asked permission to move to Mumbai. Going to Mumbai was in those days frowned upon. They were very worried.
Three months after I joined, my eldest brother came to the IPTA to check on me. When he saw that Kaifi Azmi was there, Farooq Shaikh was there, Shabana Azmi’s mother Shaukat Azmi, AK Hangal, MS Sathyu, Ramesh Talwar and others. He realised I was in a good place. He has always been very supportive.
So I continued working there, mostly backstage. I enjoyed being part of production so l didn't mind. In those first years I learnt everything I know about theatre.
Then I got bit parts and a few not so small roles...then I became a lead actor, a director and now I am also General secretary of IPTA Mumbai."
Q: Did you never think of joining the film industry full time?
MA: I began watching films seriously only after coming to Mumbai. I remember beginning with a Shatrughan Sinha film that I liked very much. Next I saw Noorie. This had many IPTA actors in it, so I decided l would also do a film someday. Gradually acting in films became as serious a goal as theatre.
But I couldn't have done it without my mentor MS Sathyu. He acquainted me with all the aspects of both film and theatre.
As a result, I was more confident and successful in my journey.
It was MS Sathyu who gave me the first break. One day he said he was going to shoot a film in Kolkata (this was in 1981 after Garam Hawa) was I interested? I said yes. But he stated three conditions. He needed someone who could drive him to Kolkata and he needed someone reliable who could handle production and also do a small role.
I was overjoyed. We set out in his fiat from Mumbai to Kolkata. I had learnt driving very early because we had so many vehicles.
This was a film called Kahan Kahan Se Guzar Gaye? With us in the car was the film's writer Javed Siddiqui.
In Kolkata, during the shoot, I got to know photographer Nemai Ghosh. He was very impressed. So later when Sandip Ray began shooting
'Satyajit Ray Presents' I was included in the team. I handled all the work whenever they were shooting in Mumbai and also acted in small roles.
While acting in Goutam Ghose film Paar, I met Usha Ganguli. I didn't see her plays until much later. But I helped her by bringing two IPTA scripts. One I remember was Lok Katha. The growth of Parallel cinema offered a lot of scope..I acted in Muzaffar Ali's Aagman. Gulzar's Lekin, Shyam Benegal's Sardari Begum, Sayeed Mirza's Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro.
Buddhadev Dasgupta's Bagh Bahadur and Aparna Sen's Undying City.
You will find me in very popular films also like Aziz Mirza's Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Road to Sangam by Amit Rai, Peepli Live of Aamir Khan Productions, Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ram Leela, Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om, Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra's Mirziya.
Working for television began with Nukkad directed by Kundan Shah, Aziz Mirza and Sayeed Mirza. We shot continuously at Rajkamal studio for one year. The serial was a huge success. People still remember me as Dagdu jharuwala. Nukkad's success opened many doors. I acted in Gulzar's masterpiece Mirza Ghalib, Intezar directed by Aziz Mirza, Saeed Mirza, and Kundan Shah. Mahesh Bhatt’s Swabhimaan, Lekh Tandon's Kahin Der Na Ho Jaye, and MS Sathyu's Kayar.
I've also notched a presence in popular Bengali and English cinema. Sandeep Ray's Uttaran, Kaushik Ganguly's Khaad and Kishore Kumar Junior, Parambrata Chatterjee's Lorai, Haami directed by Nandita Roy & Shiboprasad Mukhopadhay.
I was in the cast of Roland Joffe's City of Joy.
Christopher Morahan's The Peacock Spring, and the Steven Spielberg production- The Hundred-Foot Journey.
Q: Didn't all these assignments interfere with your theatre schedules?
MA: I never let it. Theatre is what I do. We rehearse, we perform. Regularly at the Prithvi Theatre and other venues. Recently I was in Hyderabad for a show of Mohammad Ali Baig's play '1857: Turrebaz Khan' in English. I played the antagonist Qurban Ali. Right now two plays directed by me are being staged...one is a Hindi take of Manoj Mitra's play Sajano Bagaan. Sadly, I didn't get a chance to see Manoj Mitra on stage so l based my interpretation in 'Buddhe Ne Mari Century' on his performance in Tapan Sinha's film versionBanchharamer Bagaan. I spoke to Manoj da quite a few times over phone. The play is doing very well.
The other play is Federico Garcia Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba as Bilquis Begam ka Baadaa In Urdu.
Q: Could you name a few of the other significant plays you have acted in or directed over the years?
MA: Offhand I remember acting in Godan directed by Kamlakar Sontake, all the plays directed by MS Sathyu Safaid Kundali, Dande ka Ghoda, Moteram ka Satyagraha, Bakri and Aakhri Shama. Ramesh Talwar directed Lok Katha, Hum Dewaane Hum Parwaane, Drishtidaan, Bhooke Bajan Na Hoye Gopala and Kashmakash. Subhash Dangayach directed Ek Aur Dronacharya in which I acted.
Q: You have also made a documentary on MS Sathyu?
MA: To honour my mentor I have made a film on his life and works called Kahan Kahan Se Guzre: A Man Travelling Through Time.
Film and theatre lead onto each other. It was because I had acted in Biplab Bandyopadhyay's film Dhulo Bali Kotha that he thought of me while casting Nasir Kazmi in Lahore 1947.
Q: What do you think of theatre in Bengal today?
MA: I think the future of theatre in Kolkata is very promising. Especially Bengali theatre. A lot of very meaningful work is being done. In Mumbai there are only a handful of groups doing serious theatre regularly. There is IPTA, Motley, Ekjute and some English groups. There are prominent groups in Delhi and Bangalore too, but Kolkata has a major advantage. You saw how people were responding to Lahore 1947?
Kolkata has a thinking, discerning audience. That should be a tremendous inspiration to theatre workers.
*Sebanti Sarkar is a freelance writer, translator and editor based in Kolkata.
