Filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane opens up on his mentalism show While I Still Can

Chaitanya Tamhane and Danish Husain

This Independence Day, a group of artists are looking beyond the familiar ideas of patriotism and political freedom to ask a more personal question: are we truly free to change who we are? That is the idea behind METAMORPHOSIS, the fifth edition of The Independence Project at IFBE, which will be held on August 15 and 16. Bringing together practitioners from movement, theatre, literature, music, comedy and illusion, the interdisciplinary festival explores independence as the freedom to question, shed, evolve and become.

The line-up includes Chaitanya Tamhane's While I Still Can, a mentalism-led exploration of the mind, human connection and imagination; Danish Husain, Denzil Smith, Kaizad Gherda and Tushar Kadam's Poetrification, which brings poetry, music and theatre into conversation; Shweta Warrier's Unbecoming: A Street O'Classical Movement Experience; Yuki Ellias' Writing with Movement; Shruthi Veena Vishwanath's आतां भीत नाहीं (I Fear No More); and Jashn-e-Qalam's Sardaar Ji, among other works.

For Tamhane, the festival's idea of independence begins with something as fundamental as the freedom of thought. "While I Still Can as a show is questioning the freedom of the mind and also what it means to be a human being in today's times and today's world and the challenges that one has to navigate," he says. "It is really about engaging your imagination and indulging in certain thought experiments and questioning whether we are free even in our thinking."

The filmmaker-turned-mentalist does not expect audiences to arrive at one definitive answer. "Every audience member takes home something unique and personal to them based on their own interpretation," he says, adding that audiences are "reflective surfaces" who project what they want to see or resonate with from the themes presented. "But if I had to say one thing that I wanted to take home is a sense of mystery, a sense of wonder and a sense of curiosity."

For Tamhane, the show's engagement with magical thinking and being there for one another becomes particularly relevant. "In such times which feel fraught with injustice and unfairness and difficult challenges for all of us as a collective," he says.

Husain, meanwhile, sees independence through the lens of artistic and human dignity. He says, "The freedom to express one's voice without being harassed if in disagreement. The human dignity is paramount. Transformation is not a one-click operation. It is persistence, perseverance that stems from a belief that the values one stands for are worth striving for. We wish to be better versions of ourselves, and hope our audiences pause and reflect upon themselves. Every art eventually is about its audience," he says.