EXCLUSIVE Interview! Naseeruddin Shah on Delhi Theatre Festival: ‘Theatre gives chance to work with likeminded people’

As Delhi Theatre Festival kicked off with Naseeruddin Shah’s Ismat Apa Ke Naam, Firstpost’s Lachmi Deb Roy caught up with the actor for an exclusive interview. Directed by Naseeruddin Shah himself, the show was divided into three parts, three very fitting readings and acts of Ismat Apa’s gripping tales.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

What according to you is the best thing about theatres, the satisfaction as compared to films? 

Theatre is great fun; we don’t earn a lot from it but it gives us all a chance to work with likeminded people. Theatre is a learning ground and the family for all of us. Each time we performed there was something new and a unique thing about theatre that we make a direct contact with the audience.

On The Delhi Theatre Festival coming back after three years how excited are you?

People who love the theatre and work together, unite and come together and feed off each other’s experiences and see each other’s work and get stimulated by the interaction.

With digital plays coming in, how much did live performances get affected? 

The important thing about theatre is that it only can be done at one time at one place whereas movies, OTT can be seen all over the world at the same moment.

How has the theatre scene changed post pandemic? 

The absence of live in-person performances affected the sense of connection between artists and the audience.