Friday July 3, 2009
Tale of two Merchants
LIKE the characters which they play, Carol Furtado and Chander Khanna are different from each other, perfectly embodying the theme of Merchants of Bollywood (MOB) – the difficulty of holding on to one’s roots while embracing modernity.
In the musical, Carol is the rebellious granddaughter Ayesha Merchant who wants to explore the modern world, while Chander is her very traditional and rigid grandfather, Shantilal. Offstage, Carol comes from an MTV and pop-influenced dance background, while Chander is a veteran of the Indian film industry, who is well-known for his Sanskrit performance of the Mahabarata.
Chander Khanna Watching the two backstage during MOB’s recent run in Milan, Italy, it is apparent that even Carol and Chander’s approaches to performing are different. Half an hour before the show begins, Carol is flitting around, talking to the dancers while attending to last-minute costume details. She jokes and giggles right up to the moment she is needed on stage, and looks relaxed and calm in between her scenes.
Chander, however, starts getting into character about 20 minutes before the curtain rises. Speaking to him then, you almost feel like you’re really speaking to Shantilal. He seems to live and breathe his character, and speaks of him with intense familiarity.
Friendly and expressive, Carol is the product of an increasingly borderless world. Hailing from Goa, she has travelled all over the world as a dancer, and is as comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt as she is in a saree. In fact, her tomboyishness has earned her the nickname “Carl Furtado”!
“I completely relate to the character of Ayesha,” shares Carol. “She’s a modern girl who has dreams and aspirations, and she questions traditions rather than blindly put her faith in them. I’m like that, too. It’s always, ‘Why do we have to do this?’”
Carol started off in beauty pageants before catching the eye of a choreographer, which kicked off her career as a professional dancer. She has since danced in performances by the likes of Slash (of Guns & Roses fame), pop performer Shweta Shetty, music director A.R. Rahman and dance troupe Stomp. Carol confesses that she had no acting or classical dancing experience before MOB, and had to spend almost two months learning kathak before she started.
Chander, on the other hand, exudes experience and discipline with everything he says and does. A native of Punjab, he was trained in the old-school style of Indian performing arts. As an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India, he has been performing for over 40 years, and has learnt classical dancing and singing as part of his actor training. As a staunch Hindu himself, Chander well understands his character’s devotion to his craft.
Carol Furtado “For Shantilal, dance is prayer; it is a passion, not a profession,” stresses Chander. “It is a very challenging role to play, because he is very strong and uncompromising. He will die, but he will not compromise.”
Chander’s own passion for his religion and his craft, however, helped him get beneath Shantilal’s skin and understand what motivated the character.
“He is a very tough master, but he can be very loving also. His principle is, one should hold on to their traditions. I can really relate to that,” he explains.
Surprisingly, this is something Carol understands, and she appreciates the opportunity MOB has given her to learn more about her country’s culture.
“I connect with the show’s theme because I know the value of tradition. India is slowly losing her culture as everyone tries to ape the West; these days you can see authentic traditions only in the villages,” she says. “We, the modern generation, need to grow and learn how to hold on to our culture while moving ahead.”
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