Feroz Abbas Khan’s Play ‘Letters of Suresh’ To Run At Mumbai’s NMACC This Month

It may not be jazz or improvised music at all but the creative process of breathing life to a playwright’s work and presenting it on stage is not dissimilar. When a jazz musician finds a tune or a song that he feels can be a good ‘vehicle’ for his improvisational skills, he uses it to air his skills. There exists a parallel to this process in theatre.

Letters of Suresh is such a play and it inspired director Feroz Abbas Khan to bring it to the stage. Ahead of the play opening at the NMACC, Mumbai, we had a conversation with Khan about it.

SUNIL SAMPAT (SS): How did Letters of Suresh come into being?

FEROZ ABBAS KHAN (FAK): Since I read the script, I was convinced that I had to produce and direct it; it became such a compulsion that I had trouble sleeping at night! It was a production I just had to undertake.

The play is about letters exchanged between four individuals, although it will be enacted rather than the letters being just read out. The central theme is about the aftermath of the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki in 1945. Says Mr Khan, “It is so moving and powerful, you just have to see the play. I don’t want to reveal details at all; just see it and it will be quite an experience”.

SS: We are intrigued by the process of casting. How do you find the right people to fit the bill?

FAK: I had a wonderful experience during the casting. I auditioned very few people, yet was able to find the perfect actors in a very short time.

We suggested that it must have been serendipitous, but he remarked, “Something like it, although I don’t believe in such things. I was just lucky!”

SS: Just how did you chance upon this piece of work?

FAK: I have a favorite bookstore in New York where I found this script on my last trip there. I also happened to meet the author, Rajiv Joseph, an American, during the performance of my play, Mughal -E- Azam at Lincoln Center in New York. He is an eminent writer and has several awards to his name. It is a brilliant piece of work and makes a powerful statement. I had to bring it to the stage.

SS: From the multi-starrer large and opulent productions like Mughal-E-Azam and The Great Indian Musical, isn’t this reflective, introspective style going in the opposite direction?

FAK: I learned my craft at Prithvi Theatre. As you can see from my other work, Tumhari Amrita, Salesman Ramlal, Gandhi viruddh Gandhi and Saalgirah, my work is minimalistic but intimate. This play is in that vein and it asks many questions.

SS:  We are Looking forward to seeing your play and what you have done with the script.

FAK: I am smaller than the playwright. It is ultimately his work and I am just bringing it onto the stage.

A very modest view of his own work; it is the hallmark of achievers in music, sports and indeed in theatre.

We were left intrigued about the play from the small bit revealed!