Mumbai Food: Shernaz Patel, Neil Bhoopalam talk about eating right for theatre

Neil Bhoopalam and Shernaz Patel talk theatre and food at the Prithvi Cafe Juhu PicsSatej ShindeWe spot Shernaz Patel at the Prithvi Theatre box office poring over the printed schedule of plays As we head to its iconic openair cafeacute she asks us amused ldquoWho are all these people Are they from nearby collegesrdquo When we tell her that students find the cafeacute ideal to hang out because of the prices she says ldquoBut what about people whorsquove come to watch a play and want to grab a biterdquo Actor Neil Bhoopalam joins us giving Shernaz a hug They have been friends for over a decade and the camaraderie is obvious especially when talk is about theatre and grubShernaz My parents were theatre professionals so it was second nature In 198384 my best friend and I were students of Elphinstone College and would volunteer at the Prithvi Festival We would hold the dupatta for Jennifer Kendal and collect money after the show We saw the plays for free The fests held in 198384 are hailed as the best at Prithvi they changed my lifeNeil I am envious of children whose parents are into the arts I was exposed to theatre only at 19 My parents wouldnrsquot spend money to watch a play because it wasnrsquot a priority A waiter interrupts the banter to say three new dishes have been added to the menu Shernaz orders a Vegetable Thai Green Curry and Neil the Hummus With Grilled Veggies As the photographer attempts a candid shot Neil stiffens Neil laughs I get nervous I imagine I have to strike a poseShernaz Me too Once Boman Irani was trying to shoot me and admitted that I was his worst subject He was entertaining me and yet I had a plastic smileSuprita How did you two meet Shernaz He was in Mithibai College He was 19 and studying mass media where I was conducting a twoday workshop On day one a cool dude walked in with a lot of attitudeNeil I thought I was humble with a bit of swag So with extra respect I would say lsquoMs Patel what do we need to do nowrsquoShernaz He had that whole lsquoWhat do you know that I donrsquotrsquo attitudeNeil Rubbish Donrsquot lie When I was in college I had done one play with Atul Kumar called Voices Thatrsquos the one Shernaz saw Before I worked with her we were friends Then one day I saw her in Carnage I took a step back and saw the craft it amazed me With Rage Productions a group Patel cofounded with Rahul da Cunha and Rajit Kapur if they want to work with someone they will try to pull them in They are hustlers Itrsquos lovely that they turn 25 this monthShernaz Irsquom a huge Neil fan Your eyes automatically go to him when he performs Kalki Koechlin has that tooSuprita Whatrsquos the difference between acting in film and theatre Yoursquove done bothShernaz Theatre doesnrsquot pay You canrsquot buy a house or do the things your batch mates are doing It is more like a family a collective enterprise Therersquos a hierarchy in films which you need to navigate The craft is the same the techniques are differentNeil You canrsquot be passionate about theatre but do films for money I trick myself into thinking Irsquom a stage actor who also does filmShernaz When we started theatre was a stepping stone to films Actors would leave theatre when their screen careers took off People like Naseer Naseeruddin Shah were few If they stayed around it would have helped theatre Now therersquos more original writing devised work and theatre groups The problem of economics remains however Itrsquos sad that we have one Prithvi in Bombay There are no copyright laws for playwrights We have The Drama School in Mumbai NSD National School Of Drama graduates do film and TV not theatre We need government funding Investing in the arts is importantFood arives Tasting the Thai curry Shernaz Itrsquos too green but tastes goodNeil The hummus is not too bad Therersquos no performance if a performer doesnrsquot eat rightShernaz Neil has to eat every two hours If he doesnrsquot he goes crazy Even when there are two shows back to back he needs to be fed in betweenNeil Atul Kumar once said food is your fuel The body is the real estate that you invest in I evolved in my food habits a few years ago You need to know whatrsquos going in You need to eat fruits till 1 pm and then eat cooked food Do you know that milk takes 72 hours to break downShernaz What What about slim milkNeil 71 hours laughs If you eat junk food before a show all your energy goes in breaking that down and you canrsquot go all out Instead eat half an apple and go on stageShernaz We eat greasy samosas and chaiSuprita Do you cookShernaz I can cook continental and Parsi food that my mom taught me Irsquom not very good at making Punjabi foodNeil Yes to cook that food you need to get into character I make pumpkin soup broccoli soup fish grilled chicken spaghettiShernaz I follow a recipe to the T Even for a dish Irsquove made a hundred times if I add a dash of this itrsquos a disasterNeil I was born in the 1980s when we were saving trees I used to watch YouTube videos for recipes and would see the hands and remember proportions My reading is so bad that instead of quarter spoon Irsquod put fourShernaz Yes Neil canrsquot read When we have the first reading of a play someone has to sit beside him and constantly correct himNeil Now they too know which words I am going to get stuck So I preprep at home Irsquom a slow cooker It takes time but jab khaana ready hota hai toh badhiya hai