‘All of us are turning to the arts now more than ever’ – bollywood

Apart from learning to cook, Shikha Talsania has been making use of her time rehearsing for her virtual play which is themed on love during lockdown. She says that it made for a rather different experience. “It is new, but still fun,” she shares, adding, “We meet on Zoom and rehearse our scenes together with our director. So, it is pretty much the same, that of exploring the scene. The only difference is that we are doing it from our devices sitting at home and trying to figure out which corners of our home might make it more interesting.”

Her directorial play, Dekh Behen, was supposed to be staged in different parts of the country but it got pushed indefinitely early this year. Talsania believes that though nothing can replace the magic of watching a play live, she’s happy that the concept of virtual plays is catching up. “Watching theatre live is an experience is like no other. It is an indescribable feeling. Having said that, I feel art isn’t medium centric. Thus in times like this, we are trying to provide a slice a similar live experience with our live virtual play,” she says.

For the actor-director, now is the time for artistes to look at the brighter side of things as technology is letting them interact with the audience in a different way. She elaborates, “These are trying times and all of us are turning to the arts now more than ever. One may not be able to interact with the audience physically, but we, artistes, are still trying to engage with the audience with the mighty help of technology and creating art.”

She points out that with plays going virtual and filmmakers taking to direct-to-digital releases, content on the web space will see a bigger boom. “I have a feeling that a lot of online content will be created and new ideas to explore ‘create art while in isolation’ will be born. And it’s already happening,” she signs off.