Khidkiyaan, the city’s newest theatre festival has just kicked in and has been witnessing a good response so far. Festival founder and Bollywood casting director Mukesh Chhabra’s goodwill in the industry appears to be translating into starry footfalls. After an inauguration by Imtiaz Ali and Vikas Bahl, day two of the festival had more celebrities participating.
It started off with Sumeet Vyas’ play Shadow of Othello, modern take on the Shakespearean classic, which got a standing ovation from the audience. That was followed by a storytelling session by Manu Rishi. The autobiographical account had the audience in splits. Among the celebrities spotted sitting in the audience were Sushant Singh Rajput, Richa Chadha, Makrand Deshpande, Sudhir Mishra, Subhash Kapoor, Mugdha Godse, Kritika Kamra and Yashpal Sharma, to name a few.
Piyush Mishra’s songs were one more highlight of the day which kept the audience engrossed. “When I entered, the packed venue was swaying to his inspiring songs from plays. Then we heard a lovely Purani Dilli story by Manu Rishi and fell in love. I think Mukesh Chhabria is getting the old form of theatre back. It’s great to see filmstars enjoying the festival as well.”
Manu Rishi, who was soaking in the compliments for his act, said, “I would really like it to become an annual event because theatre is place where everyone is selfless.”
For Sushant, who originally comes from a theatre background, it was a trip down memory lane. “I like to catch up on plays every now and then my theatre days are very special to me. Theatre helps you to learn the basics of the craft, it teaches you discipline and you realise why you want to be an actor. I even bumped into my friend Richa Chaddha who was in my theatre group, and we were remembering the good old days,” the actor said. Sushant was all praise for Shadow of Othello. “It was wonderfully written and performed. As an actor, you get inspired by plays like these,” he said. Sushant added, “If there’s only one thing I’d like to say to theatre actors is to keep doing what they do, they are the best of us. I think the only thing that theatre lacks is our support. The day we start taking this art seriously is when it will start to thrive here.”
Mukesh, while thanking the audience for their response, promised to make the festival an annual feature. “I never thought I’d be able to do something like this for theatre. I am grateful for the support. I’ll continue this every year, if I get time.”
On the third day, special guests Manoj Bajpai and Suniel Shetty joined in. The day started off with a performance by the music band, Troubadours, that did a rendition of the poem Banjaarey by legendary poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan.
Dheerendra Dwivedi’s play Old Munk based on Harold Pinter’s play Old Times were packed to the brim. Suniel, who was the guest of honour said, “It is a wonderful initiative. Mukesh also comes from a theatre background and whatever he has achieved today is because of his experience and knowledge of acting. It’s the best way for him to find and cast worthy talent. Actors who come from a theatre background are outstanding. And the kind of talent Mukesh gives to the industry year after year is unbelievable.”
Manoj Bajpai believes that such festivals will help enhance interest among non-theatre goers too. “These kinds of festivals and initiatives should happen more. Drama is not only about performance. It is about the overall growth of a personality.”
Mukesh of course had many reasons to smile. “It’s great that my closest friend Manoj Bajpai came to our festival. And Suniel has helped me a lot in this initiative — it’s not something people do very often. He is one of the most important men in my life.”
