Jayaprada: Joining the theatre bandwagon

Jayaprada (R) seen with Rekha at a campaign

Theatre has been a firmament where either faded film-stars of yesteryears shine again or a refuge for existing stars to hone their skills.

One can easily recall actors down the ages like Prithviraj Kapoor, Balraj Sahni, Sanjeev Kumar, Utpal Dutt, Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Shabana Azmi Faruque Shaikh, Jaya Bachchan, Rati Agnihotri, Anupam Kher and his wife Kiran, Shatrughan Sinha, Zeenat Aman, Pooja Bhatt and Sonali Bendre who have performed in the theatre. Among the fresh faces to hop on to the stage was Mallika Sherawat.

The Broadway and the West End too have attracted film stars like Sir Laurence Olivier, Marlon Brando, Nicole Kidman, Jessica Lange, Brooke Shields, Kathleen Turner and Jerry Hall.

Who can forget the brilliant performance of Shabana Azmi and Faruque Shaikh in Tumhari Amrita that had kept the audience spell bound not only in Bombay for over a decade but also in Dhaka where it was staged by them in mid '90s?

It has often been said that theatre is the place to which under-worked or out-of-work film actors or actresses turn. However, this is certainly not the case for people like Shabana Azmi, Faruque Shaikh, Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal and Anupam Kher who are much sought after by the big screen.

For Jayaprada, who has an acting career spanning 24 years before turning to politics, theatre has been a big draw since childhood. "I have always had a passion for dance and music but it was destiny which took me to films. It's a childhood dream that I had nurtured of making a debut on stage through dance ballet," said the South Indian Samajwadi Party member of Lok Sabha from northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Jayaprada appeared in the lead role of Amrapali in the two-and-half-hour ballet depicting the famous story of the courtesan who ruled the heart of many in the ancient kingdom of Vaishali. What strengthened Jayaprada's resolve to take to ballet was watching yesteryear "dream girl" actress Hema Malini in a ballet. She got in touch with choreographer Bhushan Lakandri who had choreographed ballets like Draupadi and Meera.

According to Jayaprada, joining the theatre was one of the challenges for her after films and politics. She is not worried about her late foray into theatre, for her stint with Bollywood and politics had left her little time for the stage. But theatre, as she says, has given her a new medium that seeks to uphold tradition and culture.

Jayaprada disagrees that she has turned to theatre as her days in the tinsel town are over. "I joined politics when I was still in films. When I became a member of Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament whose members are not directly elected by voters) for the first time, people said it was a backdoor entry. But I proved them wrong by entering the Lok Sabha by winning the election (from Rampur as a candidate of Mulayam Singh Yadav's party)," she said.