Page 55 - June2018

interview

of the collaboration. What matters is how we can the youth. We have held workshops varying ideologies but eventually at
fit the medium and message together keeping in and trained community workers of the core we are nothing but human.
mind the participants and their age groups. Save the Children, Myanmar in the
use of puppetry in their communi- Since 2008, you have
In 2014, Ishara created puppets for the ties, tackling disability issues, educa- been elected as the Union
opera ‘A Flowering Tree’ directed by Vishal tion, discrimination due to physical Internationale de la Marionnette
Bhardwaj at the Theatre du Chatelet Paris, disability, etc. (UNIMA)’s first non-European
and also puppets for the song ‘Bismil’ in president in the organisation’s
‘Haider’. How was the experience of working You have worked extensively 80-year history. Tell us about
in Bollywood? with street children, including some of the work you did.
I wouldn’t like to just term Vishal Bhardwaj as the Salaam Baalak Trust project I was elected in 2008 at the UNIMA
Bollywood. I think his work is quite different from (2007) for UNESCO Paris and Congress in Perth, and am still in
what we know as Bollywood. The experience of the EU on projects. Tell us more my third and last term as President,
working with choreographer Sudesh Adhana details. which will end in the 2020 UNIMA
on the song ‘Bismil’ was really exciting. Inciden- This was the HIV project mentioned Congress in Bali. The Executive Com-
tally, Sudesh was one of the first dancers in our above through which one of the mittee consists of 19 members from
production of transposition. The puppets added first groups of seniors coming out of various continents. Diplomacy is not
to the storytelling aspect of the song in both ‘A the Salaam Baalak Trust shelter got always easy but when one has some
Flowering Tree’ as also in ‘Bismil’. In 2006, we had involved in both as a profession 90 countries as member national
puppets in a full puppet and actor film ‘A Belly as well as into civil society. They centres, one needs to abide with the
Full of Dreams” directed by Prakash Kovelamudi have gone on to create their pup- Constitution of UNIMA and at the
in Hyderabad. The puppets for film and television pet groups and were involved in TV same time be able to adapt to the
need to be made in a different way from those for shows like ‘Gali Gali Sim Sim’. Ishara situation. Next year, we will celebrate
stage. One can adapt stage puppets for film. How- Puppet Theatre’s core group is from our 90th anniversary.
ever, materials and detailing have to be precise. the original Salaam Baalak Trust kids
leading their own lives now. What needs to be done to revive
Performances of the Ishara Puppet Theatre puppetry in India?
Trust are not just for children. Some also Having performed and taught We have more traditional puppet
address adult themes such as HIV/AIDS and at several countries across the theatres in India compared to urban
substance use. Tell us more about some of world, what has the cultural puppet theatres. The government
these performances. exchange been like? needs to be aware of the situation.
I believe that puppetry is not only for children. I can only say that it has taught me a They should just not sponsor fes-
One can say a lot through it which a human actor lot — the exchange of ideas, accept- tivals but set up puppet collection
may not be able to — especially about sensitive is- ance of others’ values and cultures museums, conduct workshops and
sues such as HIV and substance abuse in our cul- and being able to reverse the prism education programmes for puppet-
tural context. We collaborated with UNESCO and in then seeing what is valuable in my eers and artists. We need a platform
the EU on a HIV project where we spoke about own work and tradition — but above to nurture good performances from
the modes of transmission and what one should all, the humility in understanding both traditional and modern pup-
be aware of, discrimination faced by HIV persons, that we all strive and come from petry. This can happen only if we
substance addiction and peer pressure among a single source. We may believe in upgrade the skills and production
quality of traditional and young pup-
peteers. To some extent, the Sangeet
Natak Academy(SNA) and UNIMA
India have been striving for the
same. Hopefully, the Bhartiya Lok
Kala Mandal in Udaipur will see a
renaissance as one of the major
steadfast puppet centres in the
country. The SNA gives awards for
the same but an impetus also needs
to be given to the younger gen-
eration as is done in Indonesia and
other South Asian countries.

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54-55 Q&A Neha Kirpal.indd 3 06/06/18 1:28 PM