‘Literary pursuits suffer when opinions are suppressed’

NAGPUR: Marathi actress Swati Chitnis brings the experience of stage, television and cinema to her every performance. She is happiest, though, when performing on stage. “Stage brings out the best in me,” says the actress who will be touring the city and region for her play Shewagyaachya Shenga, which will have its first show in the city on Thursday.“I had come to Nagpur with Vikram Gokhale for the play Sanket Milanacha a couple of decades back. This city has a delightful and receptive audience,” she told TOI ahead of the show.
Among more recent of her plays, Shewagyaachya Shenga speaks about the life and travails of four women of various age groups. “It is true that Marathi theatre has a very strong presence of women, be it in terms of actors or content. The characters are very evenly distributed and get so much better as one ages,” says the actress. “Maharashtrians are progressive and so Marathi theatre and literature both deal with varied subjects giving due space to women,” she adds.
The social messages go across better when conveyed from stage, feels Chitnis. “Theatre takes a lot of risk and has the courage to look at relationships differently. Cinema is over by the time one begins to get under the skin of the character,” she says. Terming the current period as a good one for Marathi theatre, Chitnis says it’s good to see plays being converted into cinema like Katyar Kaljat Ghusli. “Marathi literature is classic and remains relevant to all times,” she adds. Sadly television serials lack that quality and go cold once they are taken off air, she feels.
The growing intolerance for expression of opinion and thoughts perturbs the actor in her. “Literary pursuits suffer when opinions are suppressed. I feel younger generation should be reading more of classics to understand our ethos,” she adds.
Aware of the sudden interest that theatre groups are getting in the city, Chitnis says Nagpur has always been an important centre for theatre. “I feel the audience here should make the most of this attention,” she says laughing at the suggestion that being the chief minister’s hometown it is getting this attention. “I feel both the CM and Nitin Gadkari should pay some attention to the non-existent theatre facilities here. We have to get the toilets cleaned before the show at Deshpande hall. It used to be the best among those in smaller towns. Today it is so poorly maintained,” she comments.