Yesterday morning I received a text message, “Dinesh ji nahin rahe.”
And with that the curtain came down on another veteran’s theatre career.
Like most Hindi theatre stalwarts, Dinesh Thakur came to Bombay from Delhi in search of fame and fortune. But unlike most, he was not a National School of Drama graduate. He cut his acting teeth on the boards of Kirori Mal College.
While he acted briefly in a few films and serials, his real passion was the stage. He and his group Ank, along with IPTA, Yatri and Ekjute were the four pillars of Hindi theatre in Bombay. Together they toiled away at building an audience in the 1970s and 80s, often playing to a house of only half a dozen.
Those hard days were worth it, because bit by bit an audience started to take notice. By the time Dineshji directed and acted in his 1988 production of Tughlaq, they were filling four performances a day. The healthy state of today’s Bombay theatre is thanks to the efforts of people like Dinesh Thakur.
To be honest, I was never a fan of his work. I was a child when I was dragged to see most of his plays. And as a discerning adult, I didn’t frequent them too often. As a young man on stage, he had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. His booming voice spouting words from adaptations of popular Indian and foreign plays, all presented in front of lavish sets, worked magic on audiences.
His greatest hits like Hai Mera Dil and Beewion Ka Madarsaa had nearly a thousand performances each; a feat unheard of in Hindi experimental theatre.
He also gave Asghar Wajahat’s 2003 “banned” play Jis Lahore Nahin Dekhiya a new lease of life, and it continues to run till today. I have often argued with him on the merits and demerits of a particular production. For him an audience was a very important part of theatre, and “experimental” work that wasn’t entertaining often caused him a great deal of ire.
Dinesh Thakur was a powerhouse of a man: a dynamo of energy, a hard taskmaster, and most importantly a committed theatre man.
He resisted the lure of films and even Filmfare awards. He continued to work tirelessly training scores of young actors, who would use him and Ank as a stepping stone to lucrative careers in cinema and television. This exhausted him immensely. He often complained, “I don’t want to play the lead in all my plays, but if I cast anyone else, they only stay committed until they get a film assignment. Then I need to shut the play.”
The last few years were not very kind to Dineshji. Ill health aged him far beyond his 65 years. The man, who directed almost 70 productions, couldn’t quite keep the same pace. Recently, after recovering from yet another bout of illness, he attended one of his plays.
He sat quietly in the audience but his eyes told of a burning desire to shed his infirmities and bound onto stage. At the end, his loyal audience stood and gave him a resounding reception.
Dineshji was one of the first senior theatre people I came to know. His criticism of my work was always sharp, but his embrace was always warm. For me this summed up Dinesh Thakur.
On behalf of all those whom you have hugged over the years, Thank you Dineshji.