This play picks on a phase of Devika Rani’s life that was most tumultuous: Lillete Dubey

Theatre

person Lillete Dubey is excited about staging her latest directorial,

Devika Rani

, in Bengaluru, which incidentally is the final destination of the across-India tour that the production is currently on. “Cities like Bengaluru, Delhi and Kolkata have good literary heritage. Bengaluru has some stalwarts in the field of theatre, who have ensured that the city nurtures its passion for the art form. Though, I have to admit that the dynamism of the theatre scene in Mumbai is something else,” says Lillete. Ahead of the staging, she spoke to Bangalore Times about how and why she chose the content of this

play

, and its relevance in today’s age. Excerpts…

Why Devika Rani…
I am always looking for original work from India — be it short stories, novels, commissioned work or old classics. I feel that every country must tell its own stories. Initially, I wasn’t looking for another biography, especially after I had just done a play, called My Name is

Gauhar Jaan

!, which was also a biography. A chance meeting with a college friend of mine, Kishwar Desai, who was writing a book on Devika Rani brought about this play as she had access to a lot of the late actress’ letters that not many people had got to see. They provided a glimpse into the lesser-known aspects of her life. She was trendsetter and icon during her time.

Of choosing the part of her life as content…
During her lifetime, Devika lived in many cities till a ripe old age. To choose which part of her lifetime made for great content for a play was challenging, as she was a trailblazer. We decided to pick on a phase of her life that was the most tumultuous — the time when she met Himanshu Rai when she was barely 18. For someone who was the grandniece of Rabindranath Tagore to entire the world of cinema was quite a shocking thing back then. She went on to set many standards — as an actress, studio head, scriptwriter, set designer and even as a costume designer.

On Devika’s relevance today...
There is a quote by Devika that remains so special. She said, ‘I think like a man, but I behave like a woman’. That is so true, because she was this woman holding her own in a man’s world. It was so much tougher for women back then, than it is today. When you look at Devika’s films, you will see that it was she who played the lead roles, and it was she who carried her films on her shoulders. Today, things have changed. Of course, we are proud of Zoya Akhtar, whose film Gully Boys has been chosen to represent us at the Academy Awards. But we still have a long way to go. For example, there are hardly any roles for actresses my age, whereas Devika became a global icon after her films were screened at the West End in London, back then. She might even have become the first Indian actress to make it to Hollywood, but she chose Himanshu over all else. And that, again, makes her such an interesting character.