THEATRE WILL DEFINITELY REINVENT ITSELF, SAYS NEIL

Neil Bhoopalam reveals that he spent his time in lockdown taking acting classes from the connoisseurs of the craft, and he is confident that plays and stage shows will witness a revival

LI’m now so desperate to perform new work on stage that I’m even okay with the audience wearing hazmat suits. The show must go on.

NEIL BHOOPALAM, Actor

ast month, Neil Bhoopalam has started shooting for the second season of Masaba Masaba, where he’ll be seen reviving his character from the first season.

While he’s excited to be back at work, the actor says that he had to do some mental preparation before getting back to the grind. “During the lockdown, I had a lack of purpose with no work but it was a blessing to spend so much time with my family. Having said that, I think it’s best to have a balance [between professional and personal life]. That’s the direction I’m looking forward to,” he shares.

The actor, who has been a part of prominent plays such as A Few Good Men and Hamlet — The Clown Prince, among others, cannot wait to be a part of stage plays again. “Before the world closed down, I was going to be a part of the stage version of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time to be directed by Nadir Khan. The treat for me was to be a part of the creative direction team and not the cast. It was a first for me,” shares Bhoopalam, who expects the theatre industry to reinvent itself in coming times.

“The performing arts has suffered tremendously. More losses will happen before our ‘dying art’ will begin to rise. Theatre will definitely reinvent itself,” he says.

Ask him if he will be comfortable acting in a biobubble with even the live audience masked up? “That’s a possibility… to be distracted by your audience wearing masks. But I’m now so desperate to perform new work on stage that I’m even okay with the audience wearing hazmat suits. The show must go on,” shares Bhoopalam.

The Shakuntala Devi (2020) actor further reveals that he had been working on his craft during the lockdown. “I participated in a three-month Harvard online course called Justice Taught by Michael Sandel (political philosopher) and a three-week acting class conducted by Carol Rosenfeld (acting coach) arranged by the Drama School Mumbai,” he says, adding, “Life is a work in progress. You never arrive at the point where you think you ought to be.”