JOIN USShekhar Sen is no film star, sports star or politician. And yet, his name is more recognized in cultural circles across the world today than any of the aforementioned.
He has already performed his hugely popular mono-acts on Indian saint-poets an astounding 700 times all over the world, and when he visited Delhi recently to stage Kabeer, Metrolife caught up with him to know exactly how it feels to be a most loved cultural ambassador of one’s country.
“Immensely satisfying,” says Shekhar, “I never expected that Tulsidas, Kabeer and Vivekananda would be so well received even in other countries. Delhi has a very small audience for theatre, smaller than say Bangalore or Kolkata. But if you go to London, US or any South American country, people really value theatre. And thankfully, my characters – ancient saints of India have universal messages. So with just a switch of language to English, they are easily comprehended and greatly appreciated.”
Shekhar is probably the only theatre-artist in India who does only mono-acts- scripting, directing, singing and acting in them. He has brought into light a difficult and seldom explored kind of theatre.
But how did he start doing it? “After my unsuccessful attempt at composing music for Bollywood in the 80s, I started singing the music closest to my heart – bhajans, dohas and Urdu poetry. I was schooled in them by my singer parents, and started doing well in no time. Even before I took up theatre, I already had 200 CDs and as many concerts to my credit.”
“However, I noticed during concerts that even though my music was appreciated, it still couldn’t hold the attention of the audience. People would still be distracted and not take anything back from my music. It was disheartening as an artiste. Here, I realised that I need to come up with a complete entertainment package: A show in which they would not only get to hear Kabeer’s dohas, tuned in 43 different ragas but also learn Kabeer’s life story and experience the liveliness of theatre.”
The final product hardly betrays detailed thinking that has gone into his productions but isn’t it really difficult to do all of this by himself? Shekhar laughs and comments, “Frankly, I feel I am blessed by the saint-poets I portray. I had never written a paragraph before Tulsidas. But when I got down to scripting it, it all flowed out of my mind and on the paper as if it was only waiting to happen.”
Is he planning any more productions after his fourth and latest Saahab now. “Honestly, I have tried a few times, but whenever I attempt one, Tulsidas, Kabeer, Vivekanand and Saahab - all stand in competition. Nothing seems to better them, and as an artist I only want to improve on my previous work every time. As of now, I am happy doing my four mono-acts and representing the rich culture of my country throughout the world.”