An Actor Prepares……

It was busy as usual and it was my weekly visit to the market. I had missed my visit on Sunday and so this weekday evening it was my turn to make sure that there was enough to cook at home.

I was getting to the end of my shopping list. The sun was setting and I prepared to head home. “Missed your Sunday routine eh” a familiar voice called out. I turned around and saw Probalda (Probal Banerjee) another Sunday regular at the market standing behind and grinning.

Probalda lived alone a few blocks down the road. He was advanced in his years and had lost his wife long back. He had no children. He was frail and with age had acquired a slight stoop. His signature was his walking stick, which had a silver handle.

We had got to know each other over the years at Dulal’s Fish market, where almost all Bengalis between Dadar and Mahim meet up to buy fish every morning and I got to know him since the first fish we shared cut in half. Since then I always called him Probalda.

As we headed home I asked, “How are you?” “Getting along young man. Tell me about yourself. ”Difficult question” I said “Nothing much, have not been having a good year so far. But Pujo is around the corner and things should look up. Guess what, I am acting on stage Porbalda, this Pujo.”

Now that lit him up. He stopped and looked at me intently through his thick glasses. “Which play, what role.” I replied “Kabuliwallah and I am playing the little girls father.” “Have you seen Tapan Sinha’s movie and Chabi Biswas in that? What a classic!’

“Yes, I am afraid that our attempt maybe rather amateurish.” I said. Suddenly he fell silent. Lost in thought. Finally after an awkward silence I said. “You seem lost Probalda. What were you thinking?” “Flashback” he grinned. “Have you read Stanislavsky’s An Actor Prepares. The best book on Methodist Acting – which of course I don’t totally agree with.”

“Were you a stage performer too”. I asked. He smiled “I used to work with Bahurupi and then performed for many theatre groups across the country” “You mean Bhaurupi of the Shombhu Mitra fame?” I exclaimed. “Then you must have been a professional Probalda” “Yes, the stage was my source of livelihood” he said. “I was very young, perhaps in my twenties, when the bug caught me and Shombhu Mitra was God.”

We started chatting and Probalda took me through his flashback. He had done Bengali plays and then he also worked with Utpal Dutt’s group where he worked in his productions in Bengali and English and then went onto doing Hindi plays in Delhi, before finally coming to Mumbai since the money happened to be better here and he thought he could make some money with the small screen television serials opening up for stage actors. But of course, not much luck at that.

It was my turn. “What was your favorite play, which character?” He thought for a while. King Lear. King Lear without a doubt. He paused and that intense look was back again. “Difficult to imagine that I could play King Lear eh. Why don’t you come up?” We were at the staircase of his building and we were at a point I could not refuse.

A sparsely furnished drawing room welcomed me and as we settled down, I noticed pictures hung on the walls of Probalda in various attires on stage. And there right in the center was King Lear. “That, is King Lear.” he said “You look fantastic, a king head to toe” I said. He replied “You must feel like a king and not any ordinary king young man. King Lear is a complex person, whose madness is almost pitiable and whose tragedy is rare.”

Then as if on cue, he walked across, grabbed his sliver-capped walking stick, straightened himself, rolled up his moustache, the glasses came off and his eyes expressed anger and sadness at the same time. And he rattled off pure Shakespeare in such style that for a moment you thought that King Lear was standing right there in front of you.

“Let the character invade your consciousness. Once that happens everything from your posture to your gait to your voice will fall in place. Often it was difficult. To become, King Lear after traveling for 10 kms on a hot Kolkata day in traffic. But then as I donned the attire, I used to invoke the character. Ah. What a feeling. The make up, dress, lights, sound and then the applause. And finally, the Curtain Call. You bow; acknowledge the applause and then it is suddenly all over. But, a king for three hours an evening, for many such evenings nonetheless.”

“You must be missing all of this now?” Dumb question I guess. But asked it. He smiled. “Of course, it is difficult. I do get nostalgic often and the characters I have played often seem like real people I knew that do not exist anymore. Not any different from real life eh?”

It was time I headed home and shook his hand. He seemed a little sad “Great adda and thanks. I rarely get to discuss the years gone by. In any case, all the best for your play this Pujo. Just for those moments you have on stage, imagine that is the world and nothing else exists otherwise. No one can take those moments away from you.”

On getting home, my son opened the door. He had a cape around his neck; sunglasses put on and with a plastic sword in hand welcomed me to the world of Batman, where he fought his imaginary adversaries. He was completely serious and really believed that he was Batman.

Batman needed a villain to beat up. It was my cue and time for my entry. And Batman and the villain had a great time for about an hour. Something I had not done in a long time. I secretly thanked Probalda. Our performance for that hour would have even challenged Stanislavsky and his theories.

My wife returned and found the vegetables still lying around. By now my son and I had both capes (towels) round our neck and wearing sunglasses. He with his sword and me with a plastic maze. “What are the two of you doing? And what took you so long? “ I mumbled back “Right now Batman is on my heels and I just spent the evening with King Lear.” She looked at me and finally sighed “Every Mahalaya it gets stranger. I must be careful the next time. Time for dinner now.”

Happy Mahalaya folks. Here is wishing that all of you don’t miss those important cues, make your stage entry, and play your part to the hilt - for those moments that are yours to enjoy. And if you want to meet Probalda let me know. Mori Road might just begin Acting Classes soon.