It’s our duty to support theatre actors, says Ali Fazal
Ali Fazal, who has a strong love for theatre, has recently extended his support to an initiative, by actor Amitosh Nagpal, to help theatre artistes. It aims at creating a database for theatre actors and backstage technicians who are out of work and are struggling to make ends meet. Talking about it, Fazal says, “It’s Amitosh who started this initiative along with some people. I got to know about it and I’m simply backing it and doing whatever I can from my end.”
Fazal believes that it’s an actor’s responsibility to help this art form and the people associated with it. “Many actors consider theatre to be a temple. A large part of our fraternity takes inspiration from there and learns from there. Hence, it’s our duty to support theatre actors. We are just trying to create some noise so that even the normal people can come forward and help them,” he says.
He asserts that theatre, much like any other industry, has been affected by the pandemic and it shouldn’t be ignored. He opines, “I don’t believe that theatre is a dying business. It’s a really sad thought. The state of art is quite sad in our country. The moment you start speaking up about supporting and popularising the arts, ek ajeeb sa political undercurrent aa jaata hai. That’s why theatre often takes a back seat. Maybe we can help a little bit by focusing our attention towards it.”
The actor, who has been part of a substantial number of plays, shares that he’s not very fond of the latest trend of teleplays and theatre going virtual. “I’m not a big fan of a play being played out on a Zoom call. Maybe people can learn something from this new trend but I’m not one of them. Recording plays might not be too different from making a movie but waiting for cues from another window on a Zoom call is quite funny (laughs),” he signs off.