Cinema Is Far Easier Than Theatre

For well-known theatre actor and director Aamir Raza Husain, 'cinema is not a big deal'. Though he has acted in the Bollywood production, `Khoobsurat', also a BBC film, his heart and soul is in theatre. Shaheen Banu met him when he came down to Chennai to stage his new drama, 'Once Upon A Murder' 

- Shaheen Banu

For Aamir Raza Husain, the stage is his world. He met his wife of 23 years, Virat, at the theatre scene, his children are all actors and he has been successfully running his theatre company Stage door' since 1974. He does not balance between his family and work for his family is part of his work, he says, taking a trip down memory lane on his journey as a thespian. 

Stage door was started in the late 1974 when a group of students from St Stephens college, Delhi, got together with Marcus Murch to start rehearsals for Jean Anouih's "Becket". It soon dawned on them that they would need the banner of a society to put up the performance. Stage door was registered in February 1975 and went on to stage "Becket" the same month. The group has since performed and presented over 150 productions with over 5000 shows going on to become India's largest and most successful entertainment group. It has popularized Shakespeare, Shaw, Sheridan and Wilde staging them in 65 educational institutions across 14 states. 

In the process, Husain, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2001, distinguished himself in theatre for his big time productions like "The Fifty Day War," based on the Kargil War, and the "Legend of Ram," based on the epic Ramayan, "The Mousetrap" by Agatha Christie, "Lion in the Winter." Trained under Marcus Murch for 10 years, Husain has 124 productions under his belt, directing 120 plays, acting in 110 plays and putting up 3,500 performances in India and abroad. He has also trained 4,000 artistes and technicians in 40 years in various disciplines of theatre. His writings include 12 full length plays, essays and articles on International Politics and Religion.