The legacy lives on

The Pioneer, Tuesday, May 13, 2008

After 25 years, the Three Arts club is back to revive performing arts at the grassroots level, says Antara Bose

At a time when the country was fighting against the colonial rule to achieve Independence, three of the government employees were determined to take performing arts to a new level.

Just after the year of Quit India movement, the Three Arts club was formed in Shimla by late Om Sharma, late R M Kaul and late Devi Chand Kayasth. The group took theatre from the concept of nautankis to its present form .

The seeds that these people had sown are now again bearing fruits. After 25 years of Kaul's demise, his daughter Anuradha Dar and grandson Aaditya Dar are once again reviving the club . On Sunday, a play Paisa Bolta Hai, originally conceived by the Club, was staged by a group from Lucknow. On the occasion, the Club also honoured Ramesh Mehta for his outstanding support for the cause of theatre. "Pt Jawaharlal Nehru had requested our group to stage a play on rural problems. On November 13, 1954, we performed Hamara Gaon at his residence in front of 1000 people. It was something that was more than we had expected," recalled the 85-year-old Mehta, a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi award.

"Theatre was not considered as a serious profession. People were reluctant to attend shows. Unlike today, auditoriums were not available. Therefore, we used to rehearse and perform it in places like YMCA's Massey Hall and lawns of Modern School, Barakhamba Road. We also used to arrange chairs and sell brochures to earn revenue," added Mehta.

Although the club saw difficult times, it was born mainly to promote amateurs with three types of art-music, dance and theatre and that is how its name came about. The group functioned successfully with 1200 shows of 27 plays for 40 years till Kaul's demise in 1983.

This is also one of the oldest theatre groups that scripted plays for children and pioneered in bringing women on stage. Late Saroj Bhargava was the first woman to perform on the Delhi stage in a play called Bhai in 1948.

Plays like Faisla, Under Secretary, Paisa Bolta Hai are some of the landmark plays that are relevant till date.

The club is always known to promote theatre among amateurs. But will the present generation live up to the level of the legends, especially artistes who may not be able to take time out of their busy schedule?

Said Aaditya, "Time management automatically comes if there is a passion. Those days clerks, hawkers and servants formed the artistes of the group. Now we have medical student, radio jockey, NDMC employee, housewife et al as our artistes. If they do not get time on weekdays, they practice on Sundays."

On Tuesday, the club will perform Bade Aadmi, a play written by Ramesh Mehta in 1966. The play is a satire on our so-called modern society, which believes that in order to become modern, it is necessary to adopt the Western culture and lifestyle.

"Apart from promoting amateurs, the club will also promote Hindi theatre that is losing its importance. We would also be interested in extending activities to schools. The Club has initially survived without government funding but we believe where there is a will, there is a way. Therefore, we will try hard to keep up the legacy," said Aaditya.