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Playing in Singapore... Hindi dramas

Team Dastak has its hands full. Auditions are being held, scripts are getting shortlisted and plans are afoot for acting workshops.

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Vandana Aggarwal

Team Dastak has its hands full. Auditions are being held, scripts are getting shortlisted and plans are afoot for acting workshops. Hectic preparations are in progress for a Hindi theatre festival that is held annually in Singapore. Now in its fourth year, the success of this innovative and unique festival has been remarkable. Shalaka Ranadive, the lady behind Dastak, is a stage artist and has performed in popular Hindi television serials in India. The idea of curating plays in Hindi came about over tea, pakoras and casual conversation with fellow theatre enthusiasts in 2016.

Dastak, as the name suggests, is a knock on the door of audiences to wake up to the rich tradition of Hindi theatre. It is also a play on the words Das Tak, meaning ‘up to ten’. In order to bring Hindi theatre to the Indian diaspora in Singapore, 10 short plays, each of 10-minute duration, and each directed by a different director, are staged in this festival. Over the last four years, hundreds of people have been trained and dozens of artists, bound by their love for Hindi theatre, have come together. Audiences have been exposed to the works of eminent writers like Manto, Ismat Chugtai and Anton Chekhov, to name just a few. Simultaneously, amateur actors, directors and writers have been given a platform to showcase their talent. Hedge fund manager and writer Tanuj Khosla got his first break with Dastak, and that opened up many new avenues for him. Nine Hindi plays penned by him have since been staged in Canada. Dastak is the only foreign theatre group to be invited to perform at the Kala Ghoda Art and Cultural Festival in Mumbai.

It all started in ’90s 

Staging Hindi dramas in Singapore is not an entirely new concept. They have been staged there regularly to houseful audiences. Veteran actress, producer and director Daisy Irani Subbiah, the daughter of acclaimed Gujarati actress Padmarani and the founder and creative director of HuM Theatre in Singapore, was among the first to give Singapore the taste of Indian theatre. Soon after she moved to Singapore in 1990, Daisy realised there was demand for theatre among the Indian community but there was hardly any formal local Hindi theatre happening. Along with two of her friends, she set up a company called Theatre Wallah to stage Gujarati and Hindi plays. 

Drawing on her experience and contacts in India, she staged two very well-received Hindi plays, Adaa and Dhan Dhana Dhan. “Hindi theatre in Singapore was a blank canvas that needed to be filled up,” says Daisy. “We would print our own tickets and demand was so high that people would start arriving at our homes early in the morning to buy them. We were a home-grown theatre community. We even staged a play with parents of the children of a local Hindi school to help them develop interest in the language.” There was a lull after that, however, as Daisy, in an effort to reach larger audiences, got involved in television and English plays. 

That was until Dastak knocked. The unprecedented growth and popularity of Dastak has taken Hindi theatre in Singapore to an entirely different level. Gauri Shrivastava Gupta, a part of Dastak’s core committee, has been involved with it since its inception. She has written as well as directed plays for the group. “We just felt that the time was right,” says Gauri. “But we never thought it would become so popular.” In her own small way, Gauri had already been working with children for many years and staging plays in a mix of Hindi and English with the aim of making the children comfortable with Hindi and creating awareness of the rich mythological tradition of India.

The lost link

An estimated 50,000 Hindi speakers live in Singapore and many more understand the language, even though they may not speak it. The nostalgia for India and memories of their childhood attract the Indian diaspora to Hindi theatre. Finer nuances and emotions come out better in native language, making the plays more effective and authentic, and that, according to Gauri, is one of the reasons behind Dastak’s popularity.

As Singapore’s first Indian female stand-up comedienne, Sharul Channa is a much sought-after talent. Also a brilliant actress and director, Sharul wears many hats. In 2018, she successfully directed Gudiya Ghar, based on Henrik Ibsen’s classic A Doll’s House.

“I think there’s an increasing Hindi audience in Singapore looking for entertainment. When plays come from India, tickets are priced very high and are out of bounds for the common man. I want to make Hindi theatre accessible to Indians and also impart a social message via theatre,” says Sharul.

There are other budding artists as well. In November last year, Singaporean Saher Rida Hashmi produced, co-wrote and directed a play in colloquial Hindustani— a mix of Urdu and Hindi. Ayesha, as it was called, dealt with the trials and tribulations many South-East Asian women face due to societal pressures.

Bollywood buff Saher, who is only 24 and of Indian and Pakistani parentage, has a diploma in performing arts from LASALLE College of Arts in Singapore. “A lot of people supported me and came on board because they related with the story of Ayesha,” says Saher.

Hindi theatre in Singapore is here to to stay. Formats have changed to cater to shorter attention spans and sets are kept simple to cut costs and keep production costs down. The artists, emboldened by their success, are trying out new ideas and pushing the boundaries. A passion for theatre has been rekindled. More and more people are now trying to stage plays and skits informally for smaller audiences.

Daisy calls Hindi theatre the ‘comfort food’ of overseas Indians who are craving for a taste of life back home. “It’s the passion and happiness of sitting together and interacting with the community, and being tied together by a common language that keeps the audiences coming,” she feels. In the process, Hindi theatre is the winner. It is transcending boundaries and, at the same time, putting Hindi on the global map.

A tool for cultural integration

Singapore prides itself on its multi-cultural society. For Shalaka Ranadive, there is a bigger purpose of “furthering cultural integration and bringing about an awareness and appreciation of each other through the medium of theatre”. In an effort to make Dastak more inclusive, non-Indian directors have also been roped in. In 2016, accomplished theatre personality Dr Edmund Chow directed Toba Tek Singh, Manto’s challenging play about the Partition. Speaking about her experience, director Susie Penrice Tyrie says that it “made me realise that although locations may be foreign and Hindi language alien, I could still feel a connection with the characters and their stories. Theatre is about humanity, it transcends language”. “Non-Indian directors come with no preconceived notions and bring a fresh perspective,” says Shalaka. “In the process, they are also exposed to the richness of Hindi literary works.” Fringe activities like nukkad nataks are also held, which include stories from the Panchatantra to attract kids. This year, the team has taken it a step further by launching Dastak Chotta Packet.

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