The stage was set. The 250-strong audience had taken their seats to witness a four-hour long performance of Ramleela on stage.
The stage was set. The 250-strong audience had taken their seats to witness a four-hour long performance of Ramleela on stage. However, as the curtains came up, for the eighth day of the show in Muzaffarnagar’s Budhana tehsil, Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s childhood dream of starring in the magnum opus play was crushed beyond repair.
The critically acclaimed actor posted a video of the play’s rehearsals on Twitter on Thursday, saying that his childhood dream of starring in a Ramleela play could not come true this time, and he would definitely be back the next time. Nawaz was to play the role of Maarich, a demon who wished to die at the hands of Lord Ram in the festivities in his hometown. The news of the actor’s cameo spread, and local activists, allegedly from the Shiv Sena opposed his casting. Nawaz was forced to pull out of the play, citing “technical issues.”
The theatre community at large has condemned the events, taking objection to the religious discrimination Nawaz had to face. Theatre director and critic Salim Arif says, “The Ramayan and Mahabharata belong to India and are part of our common heritage. It is a shame that today there are lines to divide talent on the basis of religion. It’s sad that I can’t attempt to make a Mahabharata or Ramayan because I’m Muslim. I too have grown up reading these stories, it is mine as much as it belongs to any other community.”
Theatre personality Alyque Padamsee asserts that an actor’s religion should not matter if he’s perfect for a role. “I’m astonished that such a decision was taken based on religion,” he says. “In theatre, we don’t discriminate on caste, gender or religion. I remember around six or seven years ago, I directed an Indianised version of Romeo and Juliet, where Romeo was a Muslim and Juliet, a Hindu. Till the casting was done, I didn’t even realise that the actor playing Romeo was a Hindu and Juliet was played by a Muslim.”
Defying the borders of religion, Alyque himself in his iconic musical Jesus Christ Superstar had featured a Parsi actor as the protagonist, Jesus. He explains that at the heart of the issue is the fact that Ramleela has its roots heavily stuck in religion. “The problem with Nawauddin’s playing a role in the play may be because it is Ramleela, predominantly a religious production. However, I still think it’s shocking and completely ridiculous someone should not get a role, not because he doesn’t merit it, but because of his religion.”
Vinay Varma of Sutradhar Theatre group says that it was a benevolent move on Nawaz’s part to bow out from the play. “It’s outright stupidity on the part of the protestors; Nawaz was gracious enough to pull out to avoid an unnecessary escalation. The government, both central and state, should come down heavily on such elements,” he says strongly.
Slamming separatist ideologies, Aditya Dubey, theatre director at Chitralekha Arts Theatre Group says that there’s no place for divisions in the art. “I’ve never seen this happen in my time with theatre. Here, you don’t come with separatist mentality to start with. These divisions based on religion, cast and creed cannot have any part in it. In my own play, Taj Mahal Ka Tender, my brother, Rupesh Charan Pahari, a Hindu, plays the role of emperor Shah Jahan.”
Theatre critic and writer, Shanta Gokhale minces no words as she slams this as an attempt to drive a wedge between the two communities. “Shiv Sena raising a storm against Hindutva ideology is old hat now. The Shiv Sena believes in the Hindutva ideology, which states that everyone living on this side of Indus river are Hindus not matter what religion they follow. So how did they conveniently decide that Nawazuddin Siddiqui cannot play a role in Ram Leela,” she asks.
Elaborating on the entertainment industry’s aversion to boundry-bound acts, Salim points out at an example where prominent Muslim members of the film industry worked together for a bhajan. “Mohammed Rafi sang a bhajan for Baiju Bawra, which was written by Shakeel, and music was given by Naushad. Not just that, in Shyam Benegal’s Bharat Ek Khoj, Om Puri played Aurangzeb and Naseeruddin Shah played Shivaji. We were a secular society then, and we need to be a secular society now,” he signs off.
When contacted, the Shiv Sena party members refused to comment.
— Inputs by Julie Sam and Dyuti Basu
