“Theatre is my old flame… Each new play resets me. It humbles me. It makes me extra human,” Rasika Agashe, recognized for championing up to date writing and mentoring younger artists by means of her platform, Sanhita Manch, advised indianexpress.com.
An alumna of the Nationwide Faculty of Drama (NSD), with almost twenty years of expertise throughout theatre, tv, and movie, Agashe has constructed a fame as certainly one of India’s most dedicated theatre voices.
Her husband, actor Zeeshan Ayyub, quite the opposite, has been extra proactive and constructed a distinguished profession in Bollywood. “It’s really a reverse journey,” she says, about that.
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In a candid dialog, she displays on navigating a world more and more formed by OTT platforms, her grounding post-rehearsal rituals, and why—if she needed to script it—her journey in theatre could be a pointy, darkish comedy.
Edited excerpts under:
Q: Was there a turning level or problem that made you rethink your path as a theatre artist? How did you bounce again?
Rasika Agashe: Truthfully, there was by no means. I’ve wished to behave since childhood. Sure, as I matured, I did shift my desires from eager to be Madhuri Dixit to Shabana Azmi. Fortunately, the correct individuals—like Atul Kulkarni—observed me throughout school theatre days and pushed me in direction of NSD. My journey’s been fairly clear. If I needed to sum it up in a single phrase, I’d say “eye-opening”.
Q: With audiences gravitating in direction of OTT, how do you craft narratives that draw individuals again to stay theatre?
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Rasika Agashe: This concern isn’t new—it got here up when cinema started, when TV arrived, and now with OTT. Theatre is timeless; it’s the one stay medium. Individuals who crave that uncooked, actual connection will at all times come again. The decline in viewers, I really feel, is extra financial than creative. In locations like Maharashtra or Gujarat, individuals nonetheless flock to performs. Theatre and OTT are simply completely different artwork types, evaluating the 2 is like evaluating a portray to a CGI picture.
Q: What’s one daring experiment or change you’d like to see on Indian phases quickly?
Rasika Agashe: New content material. For some time, Indian theatre was caught doing the identical outdated classics. At Sanhita Manch, we’re working to carry contemporary writing on stage, scripts that replicate our present instances. Theatre should evolve with society.
Q: Whereas your husband Zeeshan has discovered his stride in Bollywood, you’ve remained dedicated to theatre. What anchors you to it, even with the glamour of cinema?
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Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Rasika Agashe
Rasika Agashe: Theatre is my old flame. Movies are glamorous and pay extra—so sure, after I run out of cash, I flip to movie or TV work. Lately I’ve began exploring movie route, which excites me. However theatre is pure. Each new play resets me. It humbles me. It makes me extra human.
Q: How do you and Zeeshan mix your distinctive experiences whereas collaborating on Sanhita Manch?
Rasika Agashe: Zeeshan is our producer—he funds our festivals, which permits me to take artistic dangers. However he’s greater than that. He joins rehearsals when free, and helps with actor coaching. We struggle over content material and route kinds—it’s a real partnership. He says the power in theatre fuels him when he returns to movies.
Q: In case you had been to direct Zeeshan in a play, what’s one talent or nuance you’d most like to see him develop additional for the stage?
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Rasika Agashe: He’s an excellent actor—I’d like to direct him in any position. It’s not nearly being his spouse; I actually admire his craft. Hopefully, he’ll come again on stage this yr.
Q: Throughout hectic rehearsal days, do you have got a favourite ritual or responsible pleasure that recharges you?
Rasika Agashe: Espresso. After late-night rehearsals, Zeeshan and I unwind over espresso, discussing what labored, what didn’t, and attainable fixes. It’s our little reset button.
Q: In case you needed to seize your theatre journey as a play, what style would it not be, and what playful or dramatic title would you give it?
Rasika Agashe: A darkish comedy, for positive. Life is weird, and theatre displays that superbly. I believe the play I’m presently directing says all of it—All That Issues. It doesn’t preach, it helps us chuckle on the unusual world we stay.
The Sanhita Manch 2025 theatre competition runs from August 1-3.
