Bend It Like Sanjeev
Sanjeev Mehra is a very hilarious man who can crack jokes even at a funeral. His sense of humour is infectious. Sanjeev is on a mission to transform the theatre scene in Australia and has the background to be the change agent, he aspires himself to be. He has acted in more than 1800 performances of 89 plays in India and directed 32 Hindi and 11 English plays. He has also completed more than 40 corporate and trading films for major corporations in India like Escorts, Yamaha, Tata, JK Cements and many others. He has also created more than 72 documentaries for various Indian ministries and also Delhi Traffic police. He is a Method Actor from the beginning, Sanjeev partially built his fame on the lengths to which he would go to immerse himself in his roles. Says Sanjeev, “I have left a busy and established profession in India to be here in Australia and have set upon myself the challenging task of changing the way people here connect to the arts and theatre industry.”
Sanjeev Mehra dreams of making it big in Australia and to achieve his dream, he is putting his time, training, dedication, past experience and patience into his passion and has fully committed himself to this. I am doing this full time and can offer my expertise to train individuals wishing to learn theatre. Sanjeev has started acting classes for people who are interested in acting in plays or movies. And the classes are held at 7.30 pm on Tuesday’s at Natraj Academy. Admits Sanjeev, “I am impressed with the level of dedication some of the participants have. In spite of their busy work schedules they make it a point to come and immerse themselves in play situations. It is really amazing. Some of them have the potential to make it really big”
Sanjeev has also launched a website called www.filmmantra.com for aspiring theatre professionals. Says Sanjeev, “It’s free to join…! You can connect with friends and professionals, do audio and video chat, add video comments, upload videos, add your websites, make your own Get Together forums, blogs and events .I am trying to connect international professionals. I have created Facebook of movie and TV professionals and it will surely catch up in coming days.”
With the help of Hindi Samaj and Natraj Academy, Sanjeev is now planning to direct a play called “Saiyaan Bhaye Kotwaal” and the music will be conducted by Avijit Sarkar. The music and singing in this play will be done by the students of Natraj Accademy. Says Sanjeev, “This is an Hindi adaptation of Vasant Sabnis’s famous comedy Marathi play and will be presented in an original musical style. The style of presentation would be “Gan aur Gwalin Swang,” a form typical to Tamasha form of theatre. The story is about a havaldaar and a shepherd, who graduates to become a kotwal. As he falls in the trap of a dancer, he is ready to squander the king’s wealth to keep her in good humour. The story is all about forces of honesty labouring to defeat the forces of corruption so that the kingdom may survive and prosper.”
Drawing from themes of socialism, secularism and democracy, the play makes meaningful suggestions, in subtle tones. On the one hand, the play portrays a system sold out to corruption and immorality and on the other it reflects elements of honesty which finally save the day for the king. The kotwal finally realises that he is responsible and obliged to collective social consciousness, which holds him in high esteem and reposes the faith of people in him as the conscience- keeper of the kingdom.
“I am also making internet TV serials with local artists and am working on the concept and the script. I am planning a comedy on the lines of the old serial Zabaan Sabhal Ke..about Australians who want to learn our language”, he adds. Commenting on the theatre scene in Sydney, Sanjeev says, “Theatre has to be affordable to audiences and for this to succeed we need to bring more people to the theatres. It should be for the masses not only for privileged sections of the society. Not many people are showing interest in theatre. I feel no one came forward to guide them and work with them. There is no platform to showcase talent. I am planning to do small shows like 3-4 actors in front of an audience of 50 people. If we can have affordable pricing more people will come to the shows, more shows will be produced and more artists will come forward.”
Sanjeev met his Australian wife Rita Weisse on the sets of TV serial Anu Ki Ho Gayi Wah Bhai Wah! in India and got married at the sets of the serial using the reel life’s wedding set in the serial. Says Sanjeev, “ Rita was completely obsessed with Indian weddings at that time and I wanted to make it really special for her. We decided to marry on location at the shoot and had a beautiful Punjabi style wedding on the sets, complete with all traditional ceremonies including mehendi, baraat and the pheras.”
Talking about the challenges of a multicultural marriage he says, “It depends on the understanding of individuals. When there is a will there is a way. We respect and understand each other. When we got married I explained to Rita, the symbolism of a mangalsutra, sindoor and bindi and never expected her to follow the convention, but since that day she religiously puts these things on every day and does it on her own because she loves doing it and believes in it.” Sanjeev and Rita are also pained to hear about the violence against Indian students and the bad vibes it has created. “Instead of protests lets solve this with a positive attitude. Lets listen to each other and adopt a cool and sensible way to resolve this problem.”
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