At 85, this actor still wants to hone his skills

He was barely eight years when he first performed on the stage. This was in 1940, seven years before India attained Independence. Today, as the nation celebrates 70 years of its Independence, 85-year-old actor-cum-director-cum-compere at All India Radio, Ganesh Prasad Sinha, is not willing to hang up his boots. In fact, the veteran artiste insists that he would perform and improvise his acting prowess till his last breath.

The octogenarian thespian has the rare distinction of being the first actor who featured in the first movie made by the Bihar Government in 1957. “I was the lead actor in the movie called ‘Adarsh Gram’, a feature film made by the State Government 60 years back. The entire film was shot at Aroro Studio in Kolkata. I also had the honour of being the lead actor of the second movie ‘Naye Naye Rashtey’, again produced by the Bihar Government. The movie was shot at Ranjit Studio in Bombay (as Mumbai was then known),” reminisced Sinha, while talking to DH about his 77 years of acting career.

He blushes when pointed out that he does not look 85 years old. The veteran artiste showed his papers and said he retired in 1989, but worked as a compere and commentator (on contractual basis) for the Republic Day and Independence Day parades till 2003 on the request of the Public Relations Department.

So how was his first brush with acting? “I was born into a freedom fighter’s family and my father Chandeshwar Prasad participated in the Quit India movement. In 1940, a drama ‘Chir Haran’ was being staged at my ancestral place Nawada. As an eight-year-old boy, I was there brimming with enthusiasm to watch the show. The boy performming the role of Krishna would fumble everytime during the practice session. The director then asked the motley group of audience: Is there anyone who would perform the role of Krishna? As I raised the hand, the director said: ‘You are son of Chandeshwar? Okay.’ As a raw actor, I performed the role impromptu which drew wide applause. There was no looking back after this episode,” Sinha recalled. After matriculation, he shifted from Nawada to Patna.

“I had just Rs 8 in my pocket. With this meagre sum (although sufficient in those days), I had to take care of my boarding, lodging, food and higher studies,” he said.

Three days after the drama section of All India Radio, Patna, was inaugurated in 1948, Sinha joined AIR as a casual artiste and worked there for nearly five decades. “Moin-ul Haq, the principal of BN College, where I had enrolled myself for higher studies, was initially angry when he came to know that I was into dramatics. One day, he reprimanded me: ‘Have you come here to study or you want to perform as an actor/dramatist?’ When I said: ‘Both’, the principal mellowed down and sanctioned me a scholarship which helped me in higher studies,” Sinha said.

His claim to fame was the role of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in the Delhi Doordarshan’s drama “Jor Kitna Baajue Kaatil Mein Hai”, which was produced jointly by eminent director PL Deshpande and Doordarshan producer Shivendra Sinha. This opened doors for him for Doordarshan Kendra, Patna, where he performed till autumn age.

Sinha has written several plays, acted and directed hundreds of dramas, but the most memorable one was ‘Vijay Ki Bela’, directed by Indian Civil Services (ICS) officer JC Mathur. “Mathur Saheb was an ardent admirer of art and culture. In his play based on veteran fighter freedom Babu Kunwar Singh, I performed the role of Nathu Sardar, a Mallah, who saves the lives of several Indians on seeing Britishers advancing towards them,” recalled Sinha. In the meantime, Sinha got a middle-level job at Raj Bhasha Department in 1953 for a salary of Rs 75. “My basic pay-scale was Rs 50-Rs 90. The salary was sufficient to make both ends meet,” said Sinha. After performing his duty at Raj Bhasha, he would leave for AIR where he was into song/drama section on contractual basis.

“Patna was then a totally different city. Diametrically opposite to what it is today. Bengalis and Muslims, both art aficionados, dominated the city. It was I who met the then senior minister Anugrah Narayan Sinha (grandfather of former Kerala Governor Nikhil Kumar) and urged him to set up a Secretariat Dramatic Club where the art lovers could enjoy their evenings. Reluctantly, the minister sanctioned Rs 40 for the same in 1953. Today it may look a very nominal amount, but we managed everything (right from curtains to make-up to costumes) with the sanctioned amount,” said Sinha.

It was Sinha’s unflinching fascination for art, culture, theatre and dramatics that his services were roped in for the tableau presented in New Delhi during the Republic Day parade. “I was appointed the Chief Instructor cum Assistant Director in the PRD to oversee the tableau,” averred Sinha.

Recounting an embarrassing incident, he says, around 15 years back, I had suggested a tableau ‘Pilgrimage for peace’ based on Bodh Gaya. But I was told to bring in real-life monks instead of artistes from drama section. I asked the defence ministry (the nodal agency for the R-Day function) and other officials whether foreigner monks from Japan, Myanmar or Sri Lanka would be allowed (given the security and other reasons). When I was verbally told I can do so, I got some foreigner monks for the R-day function, including one from Tibet. But on January 23, during the final rehearsal, I was informed that foreigners can’t participate in the R-day function. I was in a fix. What would these monks think about me and my country. Somehow, I averted the crisis by roping in monks from Delhi’s refugee colony. That saved the day.”

Sinha’s ability and capability was duly recognised and rewarded when the Nitish Government, while commemorating Bihar’s centenary celebration, felicitated him as “one of the 100 Ratnas” the State has produced.