Zeal for Theatre

Theatre Activist Ariq Anam Khan
Talks to
Promiti Prova Chowdhury

Photo Courtesy: Zeal for Theatre

As I go back to my days spent at Sunbeams school, I realise that I was never a serious or well disciplined student. I used to study whatever I wanted and whenever I felt like! Even till today the scenario has changed very little.

My ultimate goal is to become a film maker. I want to make good cinemas. But when I was deciding on which subject to pursue for higher education, my father suggested me to choose something that can provide me with opportunities and a solid ground, since film making is a creative work and the career cannot go linear in this field. So as a backup I chose to study Business at North South University (NSU). I completed Bachelors on Business Administration very recently.

I still get goosebumps when I think of the first day at university. Being a grown up did not seem too bad after all. The last one year spent at NSU was quite colourful, having participated in the food festival, Pohela Baishakh celebration and hanging out with friends. In the year 2010, I participated in the Youth Awareness Campaign Competition arranged by the Social Service Club. My team became runners up. In the same year, we became the runners up at the Promologic Competition, which is like a branding competition, held at NSU.

I had a dormant desire for acting since my childhood. Being the offspring of Tariq Anam Khan and Nima Rahman, I grew up in a liberal cultural environment. I started attending workshops of Nattokendra in 2004. I was the music director for one of its productions, 'Projapoti'.

In the middle of 2008, I joined the theatre officially and in 2009 acted in the play 'Aroj Charitammrito'. Written by Masum Reza and directed by Tariq Anam Khan, the narrative features life, sufferings and the pains of self taught philosopher Aroj Ali Matubbar. The experience of working in this play was enriching. The play was designed in such a way that each of us played multiple characters.

Till now, my most amazing memory in theatre is the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre 2010. Our troop consisting 15/16 members went to Cairo and put up a very successful show. The ambassadors of different countries were present there. The applause from the audience, who do not even understand Bangla, was the biggest inspiration of all. It proved again that the language of theatre is universal.

So far I have done two shows of 'Mrito Manusher Chaya' and three shows of 'Dalimkumar' at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Everyone seems to have a concern about theatre that one has to spend a lot of time. Yes, it is time consuming when a new script is taken in hand. At least one month of thorough rehearsal is needed for that. But once it is designed, it takes maximum three days of rehearsal before the show. Any theatre group usually holds maximum two shows a month. Therefore, spending some hours in the evening and finding out time to rehearse six to seven days a month is not that hard if you are really passionate about theatre.

Theatre has helped me to know myself. I would convene all the young people out there to be optimistic about our country. So we should focus on ourselves rather than complaining, laying back or comparing ourselves with other nations. Of course we will learn from other countries, but we should not forget our achievements and resources. Everyone should try to bring out the best for the nation by working in his or her respective field.