I find acting in theatre easier than in films: Amrita Puri

Amrita Puri, who was seen in films like Aisha and Kai Po Che, is not new to theatre and has worked in over ten stage productions since the age of 18. At this year’s Prithvi Theatre Festival presented by Times of India, her performance in the play The Glass Menagerie garnered attention for all the right reasons. We catch up with the pretty actress for a quick tête-à-tête.
The play and your performance in it have received rave reviews.Did you anticipate such a positive reaction? I didn’t think about the kind of reactions I would get or what the audiences would think when I was rehearsing for the play. I was concentrating only on my performance, as I wanted to do my best. In theatre, you can’t anticipate anything because you are so involved in your work. For a month, we spend six hours daily, rehearsing the same thing over and over again. So you kind of lose perspective. Though we really enjoyed the process, it was a very difficult play to rehearse. There was nervousness and we were only hoping that the audiences would accept it. In fact, we were sure we wouldn’t be able to hold the audiences’ interest for two hours!
Were you nervous working alongside theatre legends like Shernaz Patel and Rajit Kapur? Rajit is one of the nicest directors I have worked with and he never loses his cool. He doesn’t discourage you. As an actor, you really expose yourself, because you are putting yourself out there, for the world to see. So it can be very discouraging if people around you don’t like your work. But he made me have faith in myself, so I wasn’t anxious and it helped me on stage. As for Shernaz, she has been my idol for the longest time. Working with her is a privilege. When you have someone so strong next to you on stage, it just makes your work so much easier. It made me push myself more. I wasn’t allowed to be lazy or give a mediocre performance. I was more excited than nervous as I have always wanted to work with them. They are very professional, have been around for years and produced some quality work.
You played a very complicated character in the play. What sort of preparation do you do for your stage roles? It was really tough! In real life, I am very different from my character Laura in the play. I am an outgoing, loud and talkative person, while Laura is shy and stammers. And then there is her limp, so I had to convince the audiences that I am crippled. There was a lot of work that went into it. Every day, it was a process of slowly building layers and I had to work very hard. Thankfully, I was working with a very strong team.
Do you find juggling your theatre assignments and films tricky? Which medium do your prefer? Believe it or not, I find acting in theatre easier than acting in films. Theatre allows you to build up your performance through a logical process. In films, you come up on the set one day and are asked to randomly perform a scene. You might have to do the last scene of the movie first. Also, here is a camera, a foot away from your face and you are surrounded by your make-up man, hair stylists, spot boys… there are so many distractions that it’s difficult to stay focussed. In theatre, you have the audience crying and laughing with you; the flow of energy back and forth is amazing. Working in theatre gives you a high. Also, since my journey with acting began in theatre, I am most comfortable there. It’s where I have learned and established my roots. I am someone who doesn’t just do work for the heck of it. I have refused a lot of work, so that it doesn’t interfere with my creative process. I only do work that excites me. Luckily, I can take that liberty because I don’t have to work to survive or pay rent. I am blessed enough to make those choices, so it’s not difficult for me to juggle the two.