‘NSD KA PLAY MAIN KHADE HOKAR BHI DEKH SAKTA HUN’
Actor Rajesh Tailang, who visited Bharat Rang Mahotsav, recounts his love for theatre and the Capital
Mumbai might be his karma bhumi, but it’s Delhi where actor Rajesh Tailang honed his craft. That is why no visit of his t the Capital is complete without a trip to the Nation School of Drama (NSD). An with Bharat Rang Mahotsav in progress, it becomes doubly necessary for him to drop by the place where he spent three years as a student and 10 years as a teacher. The actor dove into all this and more at a session at the festival that he was part of.
RESPECT FOR NSD
Reminiscing about his days as a student at NSD, the Delhi Crime actor shared, “People would often ask me to arrange passes to watch plays here. Jo achhe lagte thhe, unke liye arrange kar bhi dete thhe. Aur ab, main dusron se passes mangta hun!” The 52year-old added, “Agar NSD mein play chal raha ho aur seat na ho, toh khade ho kar ya gali mein baith kar bhi dekh sakta hun,” shared the actor, before going on to add that he treats all existing students as his juniors. “Inka pyaar hi hai jo baar baar mujhe bulaata hai,” he said.
THEATRE KI ‘AIYYASHI’ NOT ON SCREEN
“Unn dinon main aiyyashi khoob karta tha!” exclaims Tailang, before going on to explain: “As an actor, aapke paas do mahine hote thhe, to rehearse a single play. This luxury of time (aiyyashi) Bollywood ya web series mein nahin milti,” quipped Tailang, whose work in projects such as Panga (2020), Bandish Bandits
Dahan has been noteworthy.
DILLI WALI YAADEIN
In a tête-à-tête with HT City, Tailang revealed that his favourite place in the city is its old quarters. “Purani Dilli ka character apna hi hai... Bachpan mein apne bade bhaiyya (the late cartoonist Sudhir Tailang) ke sath ITO par anda parantha khaane jaata tha,” he recounted, adding that his foodie ways continued into college. “Main Bengali Market ke golgappe khaata tha aur Refugee Market se paranthe. But ITO ka anda parantha is still a favourite of mine,” he added.
FUNNY ENCOUNTERS
Spotting an installation of cows near the NSD canteen, Tailang felt compelled to share: “Jab main student tha, yahan kabar bijju (honeybadgers) hote thhe. They were quite dangerous but I used to love animals. Main pedh pakshiyon ke peeche bhagta rehta tha. Honeybadger ke peeche bhi bhaaga tha ek baar. Phir kuchh nahin, thodi der baad woh mere peeche bhaaga! Wo bhi mazedaar din thhe.”