Rajat Kapoor on directing plays and films: ‘They are vastly different worlds’

Theatre has a unsocial appeal, and fortunately, the benignant of enactment I bash inactive draws audiences, says Kapoor, who blends classical theatre with modern themes successful his storytelling.

Having antecedently directed Shakespearean tragedies similar Hamlet, King Lear, and As You Like It, Kapoor often incorporates clowns into his productions for a fresh, challenging twist.

He applied this attack to his caller play What’s Done is Done, a Macbeth-inspired portion starring Ranvir Shorey, staged astatine the 5th variation of the Delhi Theatre Festival.

In an exclusive interrogation with indianexpress.com, Kapoor reflects connected his theatrical journey, his originative exploration of storytelling crossed mediums, and the powerfulness of creation to animate societal change.

Q: How person your experiences successful theatre, film, and penning shaped your originative process for storytelling?

Rajat Kapoor: Everything you bash draws from the full reservoir of cognition and acquisition you’ve built implicit time. But, you’re ever pushing yourself to bash a small much than what you already know—that’s what drives growth. Artistically, you’re perpetually reaching for thing new, and that’s wherever instinct and the subconscious travel in. Through storytelling, you get astatine caller experiences, which past go portion of you, expanding your originative horizons. It’s an ever-evolving journey, and ever exciting––never a dull moment.

Q: You’ve had acquisition directing plays and films. How bash you comprehend the differences betwixt the 2 mediums?

Rajat Kapoor: Theatre and movie are wholly antithetic mediums. The lone commonality is the beingness of actors. Film is precise overmuch the mean of the camera––creating imagery done the camera, sound, lighting, and editing, which don’t beryllium successful theatre. Theatre, connected the different hand, thrives successful the satellite of the non-existent, if that makes sense. In film, you request existent objects and spaces; successful theatre––which exists successful a void––you make everything from nothing. Confusing the 2 is simply a large misconception—they are vastly antithetic worlds.

Q: How does your process of shaping a communicative disagree betwixt filmmaking and unrecorded theatre?

Rajat Kapoor: Definitely. In films, the publication is conscionable the beginning. The process evolves done pre-production, casting, determination scouting, and deciding connected costumes, colours, and objects, and adjacent aft shooting, the movie continues to germinate done months of editing, wherever you refine the communicative with dependable and visuals. Theatre, however, doesn’t person that luxury. You rehearse for a fewer months and past execute live. In my case, since we often devise archetypal work, you don’t ever cognize wherever you are going to land. It’s a risky but breathtaking process, and the collaboration with actors during rehearsals is what shapes the story.

Q: Speaking of collaboration, actors successful theatre often person much originative freedom. How bash you collaborate and equilibrium their originative input portion ensuring that your imaginativeness for the play remains intact?

A representation of manager Rajat Kapoor with the formed of What’s Done is Done. (Source: Ranvir Shorey/Instagram)

Rajat Kapoor: My imaginativeness evolves done collaboration with the actors. I don’t commencement with a fixed plan—just a vague idea, similar wanting to bash Macbeth with dark, scary clowns. The specifics travel done improvisation with the actors, who person the state to research the story. They’re allowed to instrumentality the communicative wherever they want, and I enactment with them to signifier and edit the material. It’s a precise unfastened and evolving process.

Q: What inspired you to reinterpret Shakespeare’s timeless calamity Macbeth arsenic What’s Done is Done for the Delhi Theatre Festival?

Rajat Kapoor: I’ve done a fewer different Shakespeare plays before—Hamlet, King Lear, and As You Like It. For each the tragedies, we incorporated clowns, which was a amusive and challenging instrumentality connected Shakespeare. We person adopted a akin attack for What’s Done is Done.

Q: How bash you guarantee these classical works bespeak modern Indian society? Do you consciousness there’s a obstruction betwixt the characters and today’s audience?

Rajat Kapoor: Absolutely. I judge everything we make has to bespeak who we are today. Shakespeare wrote his plays 400 years ago, but radical inactive execute them due to the fact that they stay relevant. I don’t privation to signifier a play that feels stuck successful history. By placing it successful the present, you let the substance to prosecute with today’s satellite and bring a caller perspective.

Q: How bash you pull audiences backmost to the theatre successful the evolving amusement scenery with integer platforms similar YouTube and OTT platforms?

Rajat Kapoor: Theatre has a unsocial appeal, and fortunately, the benignant of enactment I bash inactive draws audiences. There’s thing peculiar astir unrecorded performances that movie oregon integer media can’t replicate. Our shows often merchantability retired quickly, but I bash privation much radical could acquisition theatre—ticket prices tin beryllium rather high, which makes it inaccessible for some.

Q: Lastly, what astir theatre continues to animate you, and however bash you spot it arsenic a level for societal change?

Rajat Kapoor: All forms of creation tin thrust societal change. Art is simply a mode to question, to situation the presumption quo, and adjacent if you don’t person each the answers, conscionable raising those questions leads to change. Whether it’s political, social, oregon philosophical, creation forces america to face hard truths. Theatre, successful particular, allows america to research our humanity, and that’s wherefore it volition ever beryllium a almighty instrumentality for transformation.