Actor Darsheel Safary talks about his forthcoming play, Kaise Karenge?, which depicts a conflict between ambition and family duty. By Chahak Mittal
When life throws lemons at you, make lemonade,’ is a philosophy that 21 year old Saurav Parasrampuria (played by Darsheel Safary) follows, whose only dream is to go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As he nears his dream, he faces a crisis — his brother, 27-year-old Kapil Parasrampuria (played by Abhishek Pattnaik) develops a Multiple Personality Disorder. He chooses to stay. What follows is mayhem. Thus begins Saurav’s journey to help his brother make this disorder a boon for him.
After doing Can I Help You? and Two Adorable Losers, Darsheel’s next play, Kaise Karenge? depicts a conflict between ambition and family duty. Excerpts:
How did you land this role?
I was watching TV at home when Abhishek contacted me and wanted to meet me. Though I was feeling lazy but since the place was nearby, I went. I had no idea that I was going for a meeting that would be about working in theatre. And then when I met them, they narrated me the script. It sounded funny. But I thought that I should be a part of it because it will be a new experience. I thought for a while and agreed on the spot.
How has the experience of performing live for theatre been?
Honestly, it has been a transitional experience, because it’s the first time I was learning about theatre and its technicalities. I adapted to the situations and and as soon as I got the hang of it, I started discovering its multiple facets. For instance, in theatre, when the audience is in front of you, their reactions are visible. I enjoyed that feeling. Incidentally, we were doing comedy, so watching people laugh, enjoy and connect with us felt so good. My co-actor Abhishek keeps describing this. He says, ‘It’s like a high that you get when you perform for an audience and entertain them thoroughly.’ I think that’s one of the many learnings I have had. It has made me a better actor, a more confident person and has showed me a very different way of approaching a role. People ask me, ‘For how long will you do theatre?, ‘When are you getting back to films?’ Now, even if I get back to films or whatever I do in the future, I will continue doing theatre because it makes you a consistent learner.
What was the research work involved to get into the skin of your character? How did you understand the problems and nuances of a person with multiple identity disorder?
I was told that in the play, I will be playing a role that I have never played before, that is, the role of a genius. It was not easy because I was struggling to add my own flavour. But that’s how you become more comfortable with your character. Our director Suketu was very open to us changing, improvising and adding our own flavour to roles. Even Abhishek was very supportive of this. So it’s like a mix and that way you get the best of all the worlds. And probably that’s how we locked up Saurav’s character.
Since you have been a part of both theatre and cinema, how do you think that cinema is different from theatre? What do you find more challenging?
I think theatre is definitely more challenging. You have to really live the character and make it believable. So if you are not really crying on the stage, you are not feeling it. Even the audience won’t feel it. Film mein kar sakte ho as there are all sorts of tricks and techniques there to make it look natural or believable. You have a lot of support when you are doing films. But in theatre, the support vanishes. That is why people say that theatre is the best art form. Not denying the fact that films are challenging too. But in a different way. So for me, here you have to make things believable and if you get those aspects in films as well, it automatically elevates your performance. It helps both ways.
How have you evolved since the time of Taare Zameen Par to now?
I started in 2006 when I followed everything I was told to do. Sometimes they would ask me to enjoy myself and they would ask me what would you do in this situation, and what would come out organically was what I would do. Throughout the years, I worked with different people and I grasped as much as I could. But there were certain limitations, which got changed in every step that I took. For instance, when I did TV for the first time (reality TV show Jhalak Dikhla Jaa) — I learnt something new and very different. Post that, I joined theatre, which changed my perception towards acting even more. I usually marked my performances on a scale of up to 10 — 8/10, 9/10, etc, — but theatre dissolved that scale for me. Now the scale doesn’t exist because it’s like a never-ending ladder for me. That’s what the main concept of theatre is — you learn everything from every play that you do. That way when my thought process changed. Also, I learnt the fact that every day is a learning opportunity. You cannot stop learning, especially when doing theatre. I never think of the medium or the fact that whether I have to act in films or TV or do theatre. I just keep the story as my priority. Earlier, for me, anyone would decide how big my character is or how long the role is. Now, I just decide that the story is good and I can be a part of it. And it automatically becomes something nice. Now, I just want to act more. One of my other perceptions that has changed is that the line between theatre, films and TV has just blurred for me. I only want to act and enjoy myself. It increases my love for acting as well.
Twelve years down and people still remember you as ‘Ishaan Awasthi.’ Do you think that the role had been the most iconic one in your acting career?
If people still remember me as Ishaan Awasthi, it just shows the impact and the value of that performance. I am very thankful. It’s something that happens once in a lifetime. I don’t really remember real acting. It was, in a way, me only. I remember that there was no stress or tension. I was just nine years old and busy enjoying myself. It’s a memorable one for sure. People can remember me as Ishaan for as long as they can. I love it. It motivates me to do more works like Ishaan, performing in that way and strive for better. This is what such roles motivate us to do.
There’s a huge similarity between your roles in TZP and Kaise Karenge? In both, you deal with a certain psychological disorder. What is your take on mental health and the changing scenario of people accepting such people?
I personally feel that acting is also very psychological. You are re-channelling your emotions and a certain thought process. In a way, actors have the edge over other people. They have better control on their emotions. And people doing method acting, they have the ability to step into a different character altogether, although it’s by choice. I feel that because of this, I have learnt the fact that communication is very important while facing any kind of mental or psychological problem. The more you communicate it out, the more it will help.
Two Adorable Losers is also about communication. Akshay, the character that I play suffers from inferiority complex. Even the teacher, who teaches him suffers from a certain type of inferiority complex, and both of them communicate it to each other in the most hilarious of ways and very genuinely too. And gradually, the audience watches them becoming more confident as they have understood how to react to society.
Same goes with Kaise Karenge? Once you are aware about what’s happening, because you can never know how people may react, you should take them on the side and have a genuine, heartfelt conversation about the problems they are suffering with. Sharing is key. If you have a problem, you can always share it with your best friend, parents especially, or with your sibling, because I don’t think there is anything better than a clear understanding. Once you have communicated the problem, the best will come your way. I believe in the oldest saying, ‘God helps those, who help themselves.’ When you are facing any issue, just believe in this saying and get yourself out of it. No one but only you can get yourself out of this. Keeping yourself in a better mindset is always important. These are the few elements that I have understood because all of us go through a certain emotional or psychological problem at some point in our lives.
People have seen very less of your films post 2012, do you plan to do more films and roles in future again? Any other forthcoming projects?
Of course, I am open to doing films as long as the story is great, there talks in the pipe line, so you’ll be seeing me soon. Also like I said, I’ll be doing films and theatre side-by-side. But nothing as of now.
(Out of the Box Production’s eighth, the play will be staged on October 20 at 6.30 pm at Kamani Auditorium.)
