"Everyone can identify with the emotional journey of Draupadi at some level or the other," says theatre actor Preeta Mathur, who's playing the role of Draupadi in Prashna Panchali, showcasing at Prithvi, Juhu tonight.
"Everyone can identify with the emotional journey of Draupadi at some level or the other," says theatre actor Preeta Mathur, who's playing the role of Draupadi in Prashna Panchali, showcasing at Prithvi, Juhu tonight.
Preeta talks about the play and her love for theatre:
What's on stage?
My husband Dinesh (Thakur) read Prashna Panchali, a collection of poems by Sunita Budhiraja, and loved it. He was very keen on making a play on it. Though Draupadi is the focal character, it also has other protagonists from the Mahabharata like Kunti, Karna, Arjun, Gandhari, Krishna, Vidura, etc. I am enacting all the roles, which is quite a task (laughs). It couldn't have been easy being married to five men; none of Draupadi's husbands could give themselves to her completely. We often think of Gandhari blindfolding herself after marriage was a sign of great sacrifice and wifely duty. But it could've been that she did it to detach herself from the situation she was forced into. 
Emotional catharsis
The Mahabharata has been an eternal mirror to our society. We all know about the anguish of Draupadi. We all have suffered her plight at some time or the other. Personally, there have been many times when I have suffered due to no fault of mine. I have often asked myself, "Where did I go wrong? Or maybe, "Would I have suffered so much, if I had done something differently?" or "What's the purpose of life?" For example: the part where she is disrobed in the royal court by Dushshasan in front of her elders, husbands and acquaintances, and no one speaks up for her. Many of us have been through problems when the people we love disown us or are unable to help. There are a lot of parallels.u00a0
Life on stage
I started with theatre 20 years ago as a part-timer. The first three years were more of learning from observation. Thereafter, when I joined Dinesh, I started doing more plays, ie actual acting on stage (laughs). Well, you cannot survive by just doing theatre when you're a beginner. But theatre is like a nasha, once you get into it, you simply can't get out. It also teaches you dedication towards acting, ie you have to give your best, irrespective of whether there are 20 or 200 people in the audience.
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