Aamir Raza Husain speaks out about Mehrunnisa, minorities and Narendra Modi

The 57-year-old Delhi-based artist Aamir Raza Husain, who left the BJP last year over differences on Narendra Modi, says his work continues to be about politics.  dna’s Yogesh Pawar sat down with him for a freewheeling chat on theatre, politics and who he thinks should be the next prime minister

 Excerpts: 

Your latest play deals with the golden era of the Mughal era from Akbar to Shah Jahan. Yet it chooses to keep the focus on Mehrunnisa?

Why shouldn’t it? Here was a girl whose family were left with nothing except the clothes on their backs when they came into Emperor Akbar’s employ. To rise from a hand-maiden and become Noor Jahan who wielded huge imperial influence to the point of being considered the real power behind the throne was no mean feat.

She remains historically significant not only for her sheer political power (something no Mughal women ever achieved) but also for her contribution to Indian culture, charity, commercial trade and her ability to rule with an iron fist. Even today you have people speaking of her in awe about the how she is the only Mughal empress to ever have her name struck in silver coins.

While drawing on history/mythology for subjects, do you worry about political and social censorship?

Who wouldn’t? Especially when there’s so much time, effort and money at stake. It is after all the easiest to create a controversy and disrupt a work in this country. I have taken risks but never without adequate precaution.

When I did The Legend of Ram in 1994, the spectre of what happened in Ayodhya and the rioting that followed was very thick in the air. I knew there was potential for trouble. Instead of going to anyone else I went straight to L.K. Advani who was then looked up to by the extremist Hindutva followers. When he saw my work and spent three days with the script he said he was ok with it. But that wasn’t enough for me. “Your approval in the confines of your house will not help. I want you to talk to the media about this,” I told him. Once he did that publicly, there was simply no question of anyone then raising any opposition.

Don’t the set, costumes and lighting of Mehernama overpower the work?

I wouldn’t think so. These were done since it was necessary for the play’s setting. Since it talks of the love story of a certain era it is important that the backdrop should take the audience back to the era, so efforts have been made to make every bit of the stage and costumes look grand and opulent.

Give us a sense of how long the process from the germ of an idea to production has taken.

I was toying with the idea of doing something about a courtesan but it was simply not falling into place and I was stuck. Very early last year my wife Virat (who play the title role) had suggested that I look at the life and times of Noor Jahan. In August since my courtesan wasn’t going anywhere, I went back to her idea, researched and began writing.

Once we had a few scenes in place rehearsals began and Virat took over direction even as I wrote the remaining play. That’s how it has come together.

How much of a creative licence do you allow yourself when dabbling with history?

This is a very tricky area. Even the slightest excess can quickly hurtle towards disaster. Whether ancient, medieval, British history, Russian history, history of the Independence movement, I have always been fascinated. Now I may not be a scholar at the subject but I’m a history major from St Stephen’s with a high score of 37 percent (guffaws). With history you have to stick to the given script and only sparingly adapt till it stays plausible and believable.

Yet the world – especially of books – seems to increasingly celebrate fictionalised takes on history?

Apart from the likes of some like William Dalrymple, many get it awfully wrong. Look at Alex Rutherford’s work. How can anyone produce such awful work which works neither as history nor fiction? Unfortunately, people don’t look at the small sign saying its fiction and get lured into believing it to be the truth. That can do some irreparable damage.

For someone who went door-to-door selling tickets for your plays you have come a long way.

See it can be quite taxing to research, write, rehearse, act and also worry whether the tickets are selling. I did it for the longest time but I’m quite happy I don’t have to do that anymore thanks to my partnership with ITC Hotels' Welcome Theatre. And this partnership is now 28 years long! That’s even longer than my marriage (laughs). I can now peacefully concentrate on the creative process.  

Many theatre stalwarts complain about how youngsters who they train keep getting lured to the small/big screen. Have you also seen this brain-drain of sorts?

When you work with young actors, invest time and effort in them you have to keep it unconditional. Otherwise it raises questions about your ability to inspire and teach. Obviously people will move on to greener pastures. When I see some of my actors do well even in saas-bahu serials, it only gives me a sense of happiness that she is using that training to get ahead in life.

Theatre is very harsh and tough to deal with. Often actors even sweep/swab the sets. If a youngster wants out, what stops you from training others to take their place?

After you quit the BJP in July last year any plans of getting back to politics?

Who says I’m not into politics. My works are not devoid of their socio-political contexts. If they take a stand on gender or community, isn’t that politics. You don’t need to be part of a party to do that.

But hasn’t Narendra Modi gone from strength to strength since you quit?

I still don't think the way to project oneself as PM-in-waiting is to go ahead with berating 15 percent of the population as Modi likes to do. All that he keeps repeating like a stuck record is how he was re-elected by voters of Gujarat. That was/is true about Sheila Dixit and Naveen Patnaik too. Also Gujarat was already a prosperous state What has Modi done to improve on that? Can he take on a state like Bihar and turn that around?

Between Modi and Arvind Kejriwal who do you think is better PM material?

One can only welcome what AAP has come to stand for and it is very important for our polity but it is still too early to say anything on Kejriwal as PM. A divisive person like Modi will lead us to anarchy and strife. 

In Mehernama, Noor Jahan tells Prince Khurram that minority appeasement will not be allowed in the empire. Isn’t Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s recent advisory to states on minority detenues exactly that?

Yes it is nothing but that. Where was Shinde in the last whole decade when the minorities were being persecuted even in Congress ruled states? This eye-on-election statement will in fact lead to more hatred, discrimination and persecution for the community.