THRISSUR: Art cannot be insulated from politics; even if you wanted, it is not insulated, because you are playing out your politics, or the absence of it, which is also a political decision of some sort or the other, said Atul Kumar, director of the play ‘Taking Sides’.
The play, set in the backdrop of the de-Nazification process in Germany during the post-World War II period, was the opening one in the national section of the International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK), which was inaugurated here on Sunday.
“Not only art, expression of life in any form is going to be political, that goes without saying. Sometimes as artists, we feel we are special people, god sent. We are god sent, we have some tools wherein we are higher than the rest of humanity. This is particularly visible in abstract art like music. It is high time that we broke that mould. Politics is all around us, you are a part of it, whether you like it or not. It is just about recognizing and playing out consciously and taking a stand. The investigating officer in this play is moved by the insulation of artists from social reality,” said Atul.
“For so many years, I have looked up to many gurus, learnt from my teachers, been a part of the Guru-Shishya system at many different levels. It is painful to see it crumbling. But in a way it is also needed. I don’t want my 17-year-old daughter, or my other daughter who is just seven years old, to be part of that power structure, and suffer from it. So I will want it changed, for sure,” he added.
Asked about the thinly-veiled references in the play to contemporary Indian reality, he said, “It talks about fascism, absolutism, complete control, lack of tolerance, see what is happening to our journalists, TV channels, stand-up comedians. Artists are being jailed, banned. All these are happening in front of you, so we have to raise our voice against them, continuously. Pluralistic dimensions of our culture are under grave threat.”
He conceded that this play is in a way protected because it is not talking about the Indian situation. “But I think I should start taking more risks, and talk directly about what is happening in our country. Then there is fear, and the politics of fear is what they are playing with. I’m married, I have a family and children. And I’m afraid sometimes, and that is a fact. But I’m creating a new play, which is full of dissent and is based in Punjab. There we are not hiding,” he added.
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