Veterans of Nagpur city’s amateur theatre movement, who have dedicated a lifetime on stage take a stroll down memory lane and share a few pearls from their cherished treasure of experiences with me as part of The Hitavada's special series...
‘Charandas Chor’, the iconic play of theatre great Habib Tanveer, was being staged at Dhanwate Rang Mandir. The man handling set arrangement and light effects for Nagpur’s show had a query for Habib Tanveer. “The protagonist loses his arm at the end of the first act. He is shown without an arm throughout the second act. But, he is wearing the same overcoat in both acts. When the entire arm has been separated from the body, how can the coat remain intact?” This came as a surprise for the theatre guru, who already had staged hundreds of shows all over the world. “He kept wondering how nobody noticed such a huge goof-up over the years. Finally, the appropriate change was introduced in the very next show,” recalls Ganesh Naidu, the man behind this change.
Introducing change is a habit for this man who worked behind the stage (as set designer) and before it (as light man) since the last five decades. Naidu believes set arrangement and light effects work as respiration for
theatre. “Breathing is a silent act but important for life. Similarly, stage and light effects are ignored; however,
their significance is no less than direction and acting.” This is why Naidu, who has equal interest and excellence in acting, direction and writing, chose to become a set designer and light man.
His formal education in painting under the legendary Bapurao Athawale (founder of Nagpur School of Arts), proved an asset. “Purushottam Darvekar -- the man behind Nagpur’s theatrical scene was a neighbour which made entry in the field quite easy. Once he asked me whether I could paint the background drape for one of his plays. I said yes, spontaneously, and my journey began,” remembers Naidu.
Since then, he introduced new stage set-up techniques, and soothing but efficient light effects matching the
mood of the play. He won hundreds of awards during his era. Being a studious personality, he worked hard searching for information about the field. “I was working for ‘The Hitavada’ in those days. Here I got to read many international journals about theatre,” says Naidu, who wrote beautiful letters to publishers worldwide seeking information about the field. Even today, many people know him for his excellent handwriting and letters written in flawless classic English. “Theatre activists from all over the world replied positively to my call,” he says proudly. He also called in documentaries from Europe and held screenings here in 1962, which was made possible due to his constant contact with artists through letters.
Naidu spent days and weeks finalising the stage set up and light effects, sitting in a vacant Dhanwate Rang Mandir for hours together. “After many such weird sessions in the dark, I used to finalise the design. Then, I used to prepare a miniature model. This practice is completely out of fashion these days,” he laments.
Remarkably, the models he prepared were used as guiding material at the National Theatre Workshops, where he was a special invited faculty. Naidu was the first one to use thermocol for decoration in Nagpur. He was a favourite with Jagjit Singh, Anup Jalota, and many others as his concept-based stage decoration enhanced the beauty of their performances.
Ruling over theatre for an era, Naidu has now declared his retirement. “I have no regrets. But, I would still say, youngsters should study, involve and then work so that the tag of mediocrity can be removed,” - his Guru Mantra.
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| Mr Ganesh Naidu (Photo by Tushar Naidu) |
Credited for introducing many novel concepts in theatre set arrangement and bringing studied excellence in light effects, Ganesh Naidu, in his late seventies now, is happy to be away from work as according to him, the artistic soul is being dominated by a fake show of colours and hypocrisy on contemporary stage.
‘Charandas Chor’, the iconic play of theatre great Habib Tanveer, was being staged at Dhanwate Rang Mandir. The man handling set arrangement and light effects for Nagpur’s show had a query for Habib Tanveer. “The protagonist loses his arm at the end of the first act. He is shown without an arm throughout the second act. But, he is wearing the same overcoat in both acts. When the entire arm has been separated from the body, how can the coat remain intact?” This came as a surprise for the theatre guru, who already had staged hundreds of shows all over the world. “He kept wondering how nobody noticed such a huge goof-up over the years. Finally, the appropriate change was introduced in the very next show,” recalls Ganesh Naidu, the man behind this change.
Introducing change is a habit for this man who worked behind the stage (as set designer) and before it (as light man) since the last five decades. Naidu believes set arrangement and light effects work as respiration for
theatre. “Breathing is a silent act but important for life. Similarly, stage and light effects are ignored; however,
their significance is no less than direction and acting.” This is why Naidu, who has equal interest and excellence in acting, direction and writing, chose to become a set designer and light man.
His formal education in painting under the legendary Bapurao Athawale (founder of Nagpur School of Arts), proved an asset. “Purushottam Darvekar -- the man behind Nagpur’s theatrical scene was a neighbour which made entry in the field quite easy. Once he asked me whether I could paint the background drape for one of his plays. I said yes, spontaneously, and my journey began,” remembers Naidu.
Since then, he introduced new stage set-up techniques, and soothing but efficient light effects matching the
mood of the play. He won hundreds of awards during his era. Being a studious personality, he worked hard searching for information about the field. “I was working for ‘The Hitavada’ in those days. Here I got to read many international journals about theatre,” says Naidu, who wrote beautiful letters to publishers worldwide seeking information about the field. Even today, many people know him for his excellent handwriting and letters written in flawless classic English. “Theatre activists from all over the world replied positively to my call,” he says proudly. He also called in documentaries from Europe and held screenings here in 1962, which was made possible due to his constant contact with artists through letters.
Naidu spent days and weeks finalising the stage set up and light effects, sitting in a vacant Dhanwate Rang Mandir for hours together. “After many such weird sessions in the dark, I used to finalise the design. Then, I used to prepare a miniature model. This practice is completely out of fashion these days,” he laments.
Remarkably, the models he prepared were used as guiding material at the National Theatre Workshops, where he was a special invited faculty. Naidu was the first one to use thermocol for decoration in Nagpur. He was a favourite with Jagjit Singh, Anup Jalota, and many others as his concept-based stage decoration enhanced the beauty of their performances.
Ruling over theatre for an era, Naidu has now declared his retirement. “I have no regrets. But, I would still say, youngsters should study, involve and then work so that the tag of mediocrity can be removed,” - his Guru Mantra.
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| The cutting of the same article published in The Hitavada. |
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