About love, actually
After films, soaps and ads, Mandira Bedi and Samir Soni are searching for creative satisfaction in the play Anything but Love, reports ANAND SANKAR
Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.
TIME-CONSUMING Mandira Bedi and Samir Soni are working hard to get their on-stage chemistry going
Love is something that Mandira Bedi and Samir Soni are no strangers to. While Mandira married ad man Raj Kaushal after meeting him during an audition for a show, Samir has always maintained he has been “unlucky in love”. His ex-girlfriend Nafisa Joseph committed suicide (long after they broke up) and his relationship with Rajlaxmi Roy went flat after a year.
Like a mobile phone connection
But now both are busy on stage starring in Anything But Love, a comedy directed by Vikranth Pawar. In the play, Mandira and Samir are a couple who realise that marriage is like a mobile phone connection (everyone is smiling till the hidden costs emerge) after five years. They divorce and try different partners but end up together, only to realise again they are totally incompatible. In the middle of all this there are their respective shrinks — Samir’s is homosexual and Mandira’s keeps asking her to look at inkblots.
Though the play has received rave reviews in Mumbai and Delhi, where it is said to be running to packed house, it is of full humour that is forced rather than attempted. Samir fitted into his role rather well but Mandira, as one member of the audience described, was too “stiff”. Her dialogue delivery was well short of smooth and she often seemed too conscious of the audience. Samir started his career as a financial whiz on Wall Street after graduating from the University of California. He had it all — a wallet full of dollars and an apartment opposite the Statue of Liberty. But he left it all to pursue his love of acting. He is now Purab in Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin and has also starred in Pamela Rooks’ Dance Like A Man. And we all know about Mandira Bedi, Shanti, Extraa Innings and of course the noodle straps.
Stage experience
Both say they have taken to theatre to give an outlet to their creative side. “We are used to films, TV and ads. It’s a different world. But when we do a show during the weekend, sure it is taxing, but it feels different. We look forward to the next weekend. For us theatre is not about money. It is creative satisfaction. On stage, the actor in us is alive. We know the audience is with us or not. It is a two-hour journey where you are your character. If we forget a line we are finished. The two co-actors need to get along and have chemistry. The best part is there is always room to improve.”
Execution apart, the script of the play is contemporary as it deals with the stress the modern-day marriages come with — jealousy, insecurity, boredom and the egos. Both the actors have experienced these factors in their lives and since they are in public life it often spills out onto the tabloids. According to tabloids, Mandira’s marriage has often “been on the rocks” and she has been linked with — of all people — Yuvraj Singh, while Samir has been “suspected” of being involved with his co-star in Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi, Mona Singh.
But the secret to a steady marriage today, according to Mandira, is finding a balance between partners, and between marriage and professional life. “Me and my husband balance each other out. I think in any relationship there has to be balance. I am this super-active person while my husband is the calm one. We are like yin and yang. I have always felt that two like people can never get along. It can never work. But both of us have our professional lives. I travel and he travels. We try to find time for each other. You have to sometimes have the will to make time and say my family comes first.”
Though Mandira and Samir are working hard at getting their on-stage chemistry going, it is quite evident that off-stage they have managed to bond. “Initially it was very rocky. We often used to take turns to walk out on rehearsals. We agree to disagree. But now we have mellowed down and found our balance,” says Manidra.
“Since we play a husband and wife, we have to meet up a lot and generally spend time together to get the chemistry going. And we have to fight a lot. We complement each other very well and we have healthy respect for each other. The play is not uptight or serious so we have to be relaxed,” adds Samir.
Though this is the duo’s first show in Bangalore, an encore is not ruled out. But right now they are fully booked in Mumbai and Delhi with a trip to England also in the works. But they say they won’t push the play beyond its lifespan.
“Every play has a life so we will perform till we can sustain it. After some time it becomes mechanical, you anticipate the scenes and the jokes aren’t funny anymore. Also theatre spreads by word-of-mouth. We don’t go to a play if someone tells us it is not good.”
