Exploring Themes in 'Humare Ram' Play

The mind, character and thoughts of Lord Ram, are there to elevate us. He wants to elevate an entire class. And what happens to us is that we try to degrade his character instead of elevating ourselves. If your mind's trouble is not solved, then the fault is not in the story, but in the narrator. And why did you take the form of Ravan in this story, and not of Ram? I thought if I had to visualize fundamental character of Lord Ram, then you need vision of Ravan Luv Kush questioned their father and Lord Ram seemed to be weak, unable to answer If you're powerful you do not need to say it I believe that If you approach Ram with doubts, Ram's character will remove those doubts Lord Ram wanted Pandit Ravan to establish Shivling We cannot make our friends do what we want, but Ram made his enemy do it, and asked for boon of victory Whenever we talk about any good administration, we talk about Ramraj as a reference point on the first page of our imagination. If we believe in Ram, we should do what he says, we have not lost the God within us, he is asleep. We have worshipped Lord Ram's feet but we have not been able to follow his actions. Before starting, a recap that we did a review on a play, as it was so significant The play was so impactful, you liked our review Play is called Humare Ram, and today's conversation is based around the play and what we can learn from it To talk about that play, what we need to learn from Lord Ram, importance of Ramayan today, and a lot more Ashutosh Rana is with us today, thank you for joining - Thank you for a brilliant review on your channel It is a blessing for every artist when their work is described in every detail Without spoiling, giving a summary of the play, and a positive result from it It felt like we did our job well, so thank you for that good review You are a revolutionary kind of person and you liked it so much Generally we meet and talk before reviews but this is first time that after review we are talking I would like to say .. You are absolutely right that our critical review is a little more. And many people said that you have encouraged a little too much. Was this a paid review? So, I said that after seeing Adipurush, the sin has been washed away, I felt a purity when I saw this play. So, I am asking you a question in the beginning. In the same year, it is almost 23-24, that on one side we are seeing commercialization of Bhagwan Shri Ram's name, where a seat is being booked in the name of Bhagwan Hanuman. And at the same time, we see a play which is made with full faith. So, people's reaction is according to that? They can see which is made with faith and with commercial purpose? There is devotion in commercial also, it is devotion for commerce We have done 78 shows in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Pune, Ujjain We are doing this across India, people in different cities think differently The good thing, thanks to blessings of Gurudev Lord and Maryadapurusottam Lord Ram that the shows were house packed It was good considering our attention span is reducing to 30 second reel So to make people sit for 3 hours, without interval, was a challenge Otherwise people change their attention in 30 seconds So it is good if they are there for 3 hours, and after the show So our team, whether actors, light persons, set changing persons, all of them share the stage and get introduced And the audience keeps waiting for that half an hour, they applaud the work of everyone I feel without devotion things do not happen When we made Humare Ram, we realized that Lord Ram is there to help elevate ourselves to elevate the entire class. And what happens to us is that we try to degrade him, rather than elevating ourselves So, that vision or that... in Humare Ram, our first intention was that if we are contemplating your story, that story is important Akash, which clears your mind after listening to it If not, then not the fault of story, but of the narrator... because stories are made to end your troubles Why you chose the role of Ravan and not Ram? Well said - the first thing on the poster is you as Ravan, won't it be characterization as said in industry? I felt to visualize true nature of Lord Ram, I can do it from vision of Ravan Where there is friendship, we cannot see the whole character of the person As enemies, you see the entire character of a person, accept, appreciate and acknowledge that When you see Lord Ram from Ravan's eyes because enemies awaken our hidden energy Enemies motivate us to go beyond our boundaries, so enemies are to be respected That is how I think The nature of Lord Ram is so true, amazing, and unique His character transfers positivity in you It is a great story of a person with nothing but only will power, against a person with everything It is a battle between Sadhan - materials - and Sadhna - dedication We generally dedicate ourselves to material world, but Ram has left behind all materials The huge character of Ravan, if colliding with another being, must not be doing with a common person Ravan must be such a great character, he won over Lord Shiva, and has ten heads, twenty arms People won over nations, he won over three worlds People stand with hands folded in front of Gods and Gods are standing with hands folded in front of Ravan Ram, who is a Vishnu avatar, tells that life is a journey of grit, dedication and determination - then you can face any bigger power The trend to caricaturize Ravan has been reversed in your play It is written on the banner, discover Ramayan's untold chapter which is the specialty You could have easily used all the old ways of showing the Ramayan, why try new stuff? Some people may find it controversial, I did not as it is backed by history But why the need to focus on unknown aspects? The entire country has either watched, listened or read the story of Lord Ram But such a grand personality has many aspects That is why the tale has passed down the generations and many perspectives have been added to it You cannot cover the whole wide range of a grand personality You want to cover it all, you try to, but covering a life in few hours is not possible Then you choose those instances which make you feel that human has transcended into Narayan As our elders also say that humans have Gods residing inside There is Godliness and humanness in the human so we thought to pick those instances We thought these were instances when we question Lord Ram, and we find the answers also as it should be When I look at you, I see exit gate and a throne and you can see the lights This guy is wearing grey t-shirt I will say no he is wearing a shirt We both are right, to realize complete truth, we have to come together Both were telling facts We see the story of Lord Ram from our viewpoint and I believe Arguments and logic can defeat someone, not make them agree and it is used in courts, which are driven by facts Fact can be one, but truths related to the fact can be different So we have touched upon those aspects, questions and answers related to grandeur of his character The starting of Humare Ram poses questions on Lord Ram, Mata Sita goes into Earth, Luv Kush questioning their father, who appears weak, unable to answer It is a different interpretation, so what was people's reaction to that? This question can be made on the first scene but by the last scene... Lord Shri Ram has the answers When we question someone who is in powerful position, if it were you or I, we would scold or argue but the truly all powerful person would not spare energy on that, but on finding the answer instead of saying how powerful you are when people related to you start answering for your truth then we are powerful If we are to judge Gold, we cannot use metal, if we are to judge quality of Gold, we have to use parameters fit, or worthy of Gold We have not got a negative reaction, because our thinking and goal are positive, and no business mindset so we worked as artists We used our imagination and our art, to convey the epic story for the benefit of all people, so it is joy as an artist Where we see everything in black and white in today's generation... you are introducing Ravan as ultimate Shiv devotee and Pandit - and people received it well We have shown as it is in Ramayan Ravan was a devotee of Lord Shiva Ravan kidnapped Goddess Sita ji and fought with Jatayu Nose of Shurpanakha was cut, it was written We have not changed anything from our side But behind those incidents we have, if you touch electric wire what will happen? - shock - and if not? Then it is not live electric wire So if you come into contact with Lord Ram and if your character is not elevated after it, then you are questioning his existence Even if you approach Lord Ram full of doubts, Ram will remove those doubts, you are connecting with his aura... even if it is Ravan When in contact with Lord Ram, then a transformation will definitely occur Why it is said, when we come in contact with all knowing Guru then we also become wise so that is the impact Where the almighty's eyes lay, life emerges and if eyes close life also disappears so Lord Ram came to Earth as avatar of that great form Questions come into our minds as audiences, this play is of forces between Lord Ram and Ravan Bhagwan Shri Ram wants Pandit Ravan to establish the Shivling Before the war against Ravan, Lord Ram wants Ravan to lay the foundation of Shivling We cannot make our friends do what we want Whereas Lord Ram can make Ravan do so, it is a lesson on approach to life that if you respect your foes If you recognize the qualities of your enemy then it becomes helpful for you They have to fight against Ravan and through Ravan they wish to complete their task It shows the skill of transforming enemy to friend We ignore positives of our friends and condemn the positives of our enemies Lord Ram tells us there are positives in enemies, despite bad deeds, you have won over Lord Shiva who protects you So without pleasing Lord Shiva, it is not possible to defeat you and you are the one who can call upon Lord Shiva Rahul, who plays Lord Ram, asks for a boon - victory on Lanka The enemy you are going to fight, taking aid from that enemy... that when you defeat the enemy there will be no angst So it is a very peculiar thing to observe Lord Ram is saying there is enmity but no anger So this journey is to elevate ourselves They are our ancestors, what we did we worshipped their feet... but did not follow their actions That is our attempt with the play to show the story... as actors Rahul, the producer, is a devotee of Lord Shiva, the goal is not to create new meaning, whatever is necessary to narrate the story in authenticity is available We cannot diminish the story and maintain the grandeur We have arranged best of the best, whatever was possible and all the shows were ticketed We have completed 78 shows in 155 days so it has been done with speed by Felicity Theatre As actor, it is our responsibility to show perfectly what role is being given to us But to reach a wider audience, the hard work done needed by producer that was done In today's generation, newspaper and television can say once or twice, hoardings are put this is the first play that has got so many hoardings in cities This joy is accessible to cinema actors Somewhere this is the belief and work of Rahul as he is not miserly, and that is showing results More than billboard, the word of mouth is working well for the play... but people say perhaps the audio was recorded, otherwise how it's possible So there was a lot of physical effort I also observed timeless political commentary in the play When Ravan is talking to Lord Ram in a dream - why he killed other people if enmity was with him Lord Ram says, bad deeds of the ruler also bear bad fruits for the people The world has been living in civilization for thousands and thousands of years But when we talk about a good administration, we talk about Ram Rajya Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna have also ruled - but we do not talk about Krishna raj Lord Parashuram had mastered weaponry and education, he also ruled But still if you talk about Ram Rajya, and I believe that Ramayan and story of Lord Ram is for upliftment of society as a whole While Lord Krishna is talking about upliftment of person through Geeta When you talk about politics, it can have two meanings One is how you rule, and another is how you rule as per the law It is up to us what we choose Every time has their laws, but Ramrajya feels timeless because it talks about society and thinking as a whole For the establishment of dharma Lord Ram is ready to sacrifice himself If there is an allegation of Mata Sita, then he diverted all the attention and took it upon himself We don't talk about Mata Sita or Luv Kush, we question and discuss whether Lord Ram did the right thing, that this should not have been done Mata Sita who was his love, his pride, his life and energy, if his own people start questioning her character Then he removed her from that environment and took all the arrows of doubts on himself Even today we do evaluation of Lord Ram, how could that have been done, that was not right, etc. I believe, he talks about system and thinking in Ramrajya In Ramraj, importance is on the person, while in Rajya importance is given to system, thoughts and ideas Obviously I will not reveal the climax but.. when Lord Ram sends Laxman to learn from Pandit Ravan as he is dying we learn how ego and pride can destroy someone the conflict of daman, dominance and naman, bowing down - today we see daman being used This conflict always happens You believe in the power of naman or daman, it is your choice It will reflect your nature It is not about civilization and culture We are in civilization, and culture is how you are What you have and how you are There is one thing above these That is nature Daman and naman, respecting the enemy, we can try this Ravan was too proud of his education and Ram is aware of One is boastful of his achievements, and other is aware of power of ego then that goes on the path of naman You can rule over a land with the path of daman but you can win someone with naman Hammer and key are made of metal, hammer was elderly and told the key that even though I am elder the lock does not listen to me, despite being of same family of metals But he listens to you, then the key replied - you hammer the head of the lock while I enter his heart and lock opens Both are ways to open the lock But hammer has to hit the lock to break it open while the key opens the lock, both do the trick Key when turned on one side the lock opens while turn the other side it is locked Not only must the key know how to enter heart but also know how to turn If we go clockwise the lock opens If we go against time, anti clockwise, then it is locked Keep your pace with changing times and you will open all the locks All this you can learn from character of Lord Ram, and that is why timeless politics Thousands of years have gone by, if you and I pass away, our families will forget then what is the reason You either see him as friend or enemy but you keep Lord Ram at the center That is why we feel it is timeless If we follow his actions instead of just worshipping, if we do as he says Then in our lives, we will enter in the direction of creating friends from enemies When Rahul had this thought of a play, I wanted to play Ravan since very early on What could we do? We as actors can convey it to the audience So many shows have happened in the past, so many perspectives As you see you create We may have achieved some things, but how much will our family members remember after we are gone? But we are remembering him, his nature even after thousands of years, If we are sad, then thinking about him is uplifting and fills us with self belief Taking his name has value in a pledge what about our names? That is why he is timeless Here your linkage to the play is more than that of an actor An actor does not research all this and write an entire book on it - released in 2020 and Humare Ram in 2023 I will have to learn time management from you how you manage all this The answer is simple, no matter how busy we are, we find time for food and nutrition If the need for reading, writing, thinking is similar to nutrition then you have all the time The time you have to yourself is your luck If we live our time as per our will then we are lucky otherwise we are unlucky Tell me about your book Ramrajya - is it your understanding, a philosophical understanding? Who should read? Everyone should read this... you will find human connection, relatability, marketing strategy You will find about leadership and organization and you will find what is the difference between a leader and king You will find answers to various dimensions of life, because the life of Lord Ram is so vast You will also find about women empowerment That is why it got the Sahitya Akademi Award So you think we need to widen our own perspective because our viewpoint is getting limited nowadays , that only one point of view is right If we do not have a wider vision then we must go to eye specialist The full moon is also only 25% of the moon, but we say it's a full moon Our viewpoint may be limited but nature has no limits, so when it comes in our range of view it feels like miracle The infinite divine is not lost, just sleeping inside us When the divine awakening is realized, then your viewpoint will be fixed Time, love and respect We have three things troubling us - time, love and honor If we discuss it instead of arguing - that is what Lord Ram teaches by doing When he goes to powerless monkeys, they become powerful by his presence If Ravan has higher education, highly qualified, then Ram knows its use, purpose, is well qualified We have to choose between highly qualified and well qualified Education is not related to knowing the facts, it is how to act how to bring people close If one is driving people away then problem is with the student So I believe people should read this book I wanted to ask, why you wrote this satirical book, we misunderstand religion and consider satire as insult We cannot tolerate satire, and you wrote a book on that First we need to understand what satire is To present where the society lacks in such a way that people do not feel bad Are we following that fundamental rule? The job is to inform Satire is telling about reality without hurting so you are trying to help the person Not to disappoint, but to educate, you will not find happiness in proving others are wrong but to help them introspect Understand what comedy and satire are Comedy is when you laugh out loud, satire is when you make a faint smile, satire makes you remember the mistake We see a wide range of comedy and satire in Hindi and other languages, but today even a cartoon can hurt sentiments Is there more satire in regional languages than mainstream? India is a country of over 7 lakh villages and as you enter you will find satire is part of daily life In a family if there are 3 brothers are they agreeing on everything? They have different perspectives and now if they have to talk on one issue - then you will find satire there as they will speak their minds It will hurt - yes if a thorn pierces through sole of foot then it will pain but you cannot cut off the foot Satire is like a thorn, it does not cut your foot, it pains a little ... humans are like animals except that humans are creative, they have accumulated wisdom, they can express themselves how they feel Other animals cannot do that, but humans can - it could be cause of destruction also You have written on counter culture, human tendency is to get more cheap publicity while you write on how to conduct your self, do people like it? If we are called Vishwa guru today, then we should think differently than the world, more mature to guide the world Your choice if you want to gather waste or fragrance What do you think? Your choice, I say. If a rag picker becomes rich, what do we say still? He is a raddi vala. What we accumulate we become so if India is Vishwa Guru, if entire world is destroyed then you can see the world through India Because here we have all the civilizations and cultures living together Believe in Indian character ... we can survive by selling chaat but not survive by eating chaat People go to chaat, we say it is a culture of chaat We are also of this generation, then what is true freedom? we have option to live as per will True freedom is freedom to make mistakes, we spend our time as we want I have my opinion, I believe in my thinking, and same faith I have on your opinion, that is what my country and ancestors teach Respect others opinion as much you respect yours Shrimati is one who respects her husband's opinion and Shriman is one who respects his wife's opinion As you said, man can survive by selling chaat not by eating - but these days people are consuming chaat too much in social media generation 3 hour show is an achievement because people are generally moving towards Chaat - or short content We are unaware of our mother when we are born But slowly we develop awareness and bonding in social media it is a journey from unknown to bonding One may be in Kolkata and another in Mumbai, they are connected through social media they have not seen each other Your introduction is what you write, it is up to you whether you want to form a bond As we clean our house, we should also clean our online accounts, In garden you sow seeds of crops not at home at home you clean the product, so if you do not pay attention which is necessary to do consciously If we want to improve the crop we need to improve the land Critic is one who finds unwanted outsider in the crop, remove it - that is what criticism is. Give home to one who is saving the crop If you remove the crop and then ask to be called a critic, would not be right... everyone thinks they are doing the right thing If they find out it is a negative thing then they will stop doing it, but since they are in agreement with the thinking Introspection is what they need, I believe We have to take care of our online presence and its cleanliness If you come to my social media account then you are my guest I have to respect, appreciate and accept you My interest is in writing, people read. I do not have social media team I know it is a time waster I read everything, the blue tick is of acknowledgement And I answer to them myself ,... if you want to get into agriculture do it yourself, write a letter yourself, request yourself, scratch an itch yourself If you want to live happily So if you come to my social media account there is no foul language, debates happen in respectful language If someone is not respectful, there is freedom to block someone It is my thought for you, that you are in pain reading my work, then I will try to solve that, and solve my problem while doing so I also don't want to be disappointed by what you say... this is a thought, not a point of view You are from Lucknow so you have lived and experienced a different life I have come from a small place called Gadarwara so it is a different experience My nature, my pace depends on my acquired experience It is our choice of how we achieve things My whole viewpoint is that we have option, to give respect if we are in contact If cannot respect, then do not disrespect ... anger is not for destroying others but to achieve equip yourself With me there is entry gate, no exit gate - you can enter by your choice but not leave, because we are here to grow together, not destroy It is our choice because we are rowing the boat of life on our own , giving it direction If you change the direction the shore is also changed, change your thinking then the luck will change The thing you say about elevating the thought process but as I see in society thought process is degenerating - how to stop that? Is there a way how to enlarge the vision and though process? when we start thinking not just for ourselves, I was fortunate to learn that from our Guru and there are people who inspire you to expand your vision You can either contract your vision or expand it You have to start on yourself, when you want it to happen... you will say everyone thinks the best for themselves But one who thinks best of themselves also thinks best of others too. You feel big in their company. If you are great, then it is duty to tell others how great and able they are When you think like that then you will read, speak and write good If you want to be timeless like Lord Ram, Kabir Das ji, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Vivekananda, then you have to follow that kind of path Win over yourself before trying to win the world The journey starts with self, when we cannot do what we want to achieve and we want the world to follow us? That is why our texts teach self discipline before governance. We have all the right means but we use them wrongly If we want the world to listen to us, first have a control on your thoughts... but the opposite usually happens because we fulfill others' desires but not our own we spend all energy in convincing others rather than working on ourselves, so I think first improve yourself because small working parts make up a big machine, so if the big machine has to work all the small parts must function well You and I are small parts of the big system If in my body, right hand does not function as left hand, if right and left eye see in opposite directions, then what will the world say about us? It is deformation If right leg is on left and left says you are insulting me, and if right hand says how dare you left hand insult my family - then we will destroy ourselves We have to work together for the body to be balanced Strings on Veena have different notes, but combined they can make a symphony You may forget after listening, but this is my thinking, to live in a way so that there is peace and harmony within my mind This does not mean success or the world will respect you , no But then you will be living with happiness Last question, writing a book is a different joy in itself I salute that. A big actor who has seen success in cinema, now is giving more importance to theatre Massive play with great number of shows, people are talking about it nationwide So where is the happiness? Is it the theatre play or the mainstream cinema? Theatre, cinema or OTT these are all platforms to showcase your art - they are not art - art is made on these platforms The difference in joys of theatre and cinema is that when you get payment in cash, so the cash counter whereas cinema is like credit, you have got it but cannot be seen This is like preparing a fresh meal and getting paid for it I have worked in various mediums and I always wanted to play the role of Ravan, so there will be a prequel It will show the journey of becoming Ravan and Felicity theatre of Rahul is working on that First you will see Lankesh, its tentative name, and then Humare Ram It is in the works Live counter is the joy here, where it is like you getting a hot meal The difference between freshly prepared hot meal and meal in hot case - theatre is like a live counter It gives freedom to experiment In cinema frame goes close to the scene, camera is built on principles of eye You can do close shot or wide shot Here actor has to attract the eyes of audience , close or wide shot, you have to do that to the sitting audience so this is a challenge in itself Suppose I want audience to focus on my face, while my whole body is visible ... camera has that freedom it can only show upper part What happens below is not shown But in theatre I, as an actor, have to take your attention to various parts so you are manipulating the lens of the eye of the audience It is a joy and you're always aware You have to act for over 3 hours, here another problem is... actor established connect with audience but not with character Sometimes there is applaud, and there is laughter so it keeps you alert but because there was connect on the stage and it was received well by the audience Acting is not a solo activity, it teaches you how to connect perhaps two actors who do not like each other have to play brothers How will you do that? These are all the challenges When you are moving in spotlight people are seeing you but you cannot see them - these are all the details They keep you alert and alertness is first step to success and joy Live your life being aware and it will be a joy May you climb the ladder of success even more, keep enjoying the live counter, we usually do political interview, this was one uplifting interview It was a pleasant experience, wishing you success - thank you so much Akash

The mind, character and thoughts of Lord Ram, are there to elevate us. He wants to elevate an entire class.  And what happens to us is that we try to degrade his character instead of elevating ourselves. If your mind's trouble is not solved, then the fault is not in the story, but in the narrator.  And why did you take the form of Ravan in this story, and not of Ram? I thought if I had to visualize fundamental character of Lord Ram, then you need vision of Ravan Luv Kush questioned their father and Lord Ram seemed to be weak, unable to answer If you're powerful you do not need to say it I believe that If you approach Ram with doubts, Ram's character will remove those doubts Lord Ram wanted Pandit Ravan to establish Shivling We cannot make our friends do what we want, but Ram made his enemy do it, and asked for boon of victory Whenever we talk about any good administration, we talk about Ramraj as a reference point on the first page of our imagination. If we believe in Ram, we should do what he says, we have not lost the God within us, he is asleep.  We have worshipped Lord Ram's feet but we have not been able to follow his actions. Before starting, a recap that we did a review on a play, as it was so significant  The play was so impactful, you liked our review Play is called Humare Ram, and today's conversation is based around the play and what we can learn from it To talk about that play, what we need to learn from Lord Ram, importance of Ramayan today, and a lot more Ashutosh Rana is with us today, thank you for joining
- Thank you for a brilliant review on your channel It is a blessing for every artist when their work is described in every detail Without spoiling, giving a summary of the play, and a positive result from it It felt like we did our job well, so thank you for that good review You are a revolutionary kind of person and you liked it so much Generally we meet and talk before reviews but this is first time that after review we are talking  I would like to say .. You are absolutely right that our critical review is a little more. And many people said that you have encouraged a little too much.  Was this a paid review?   So, I said that after seeing Adipurush, the sin has been washed away, I felt a purity when I saw this play.  So, I am asking you a question in the beginning. In the same year, it is almost 23-24, that on one side we are seeing commercialization of Bhagwan Shri Ram's name, where a seat is being booked in the name of Bhagwan Hanuman.  And at the same time, we see a play which is made with full faith.   So, people's reaction is according to that? They can see which is made with faith and with commercial purpose? There is devotion in commercial also, it is devotion for commerce We have done 78 shows in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Pune, Ujjain We are doing this across India, people in different cities think differently  The good thing, thanks to blessings of Gurudev Lord and Maryadapurusottam Lord Ram that the shows were house packed It was good considering our attention span is reducing to 30 second reel So to make people sit for 3 hours, without interval, was a challenge Otherwise people change their attention in 30 seconds So it is good if they are there for 3 hours, and after the show  So our team, whether actors, light persons, set changing persons, all of them share the stage and get introduced And the audience keeps waiting for that half an hour, they applaud the work of everyone I feel without devotion things do not happen When we made Humare Ram, we realized that Lord Ram is there to help elevate ourselves to elevate the entire class. And what happens to us is that we try to degrade him, rather than elevating ourselves  So, that vision or that... in Humare Ram, our first intention was that if we are contemplating your story, that story is important Akash, which clears your mind after listening to it If not, then not the fault of story, but of the narrator... because stories are made to end your troubles Why you chose the role of Ravan and not Ram? Well said
- the first thing on the poster is you as Ravan, won't it be characterization as said in industry? I felt to visualize true nature of Lord Ram, I can do it from vision of Ravan Where there is friendship, we cannot see the whole character of the person As enemies, you see the entire character of a person, accept, appreciate and acknowledge that When you see Lord Ram from Ravan's eyes because enemies awaken our hidden energy Enemies motivate us to go beyond our boundaries, so enemies are to be respected That is how I think The nature of Lord Ram is so true, amazing, and unique His character transfers positivity in you It is a great story of a person with nothing but only will power, against a person with everything It is a battle between Sadhan - materials - and Sadhna - dedication We generally dedicate ourselves to material world, but Ram has left behind all materials The huge character of Ravan, if colliding with another being, must not be doing with a common person Ravan must be such a great character, he won over Lord Shiva, and has ten heads, twenty arms People won over nations, he won over three worlds People stand with hands folded in front of Gods and Gods are standing with hands folded in front of Ravan Ram, who is a Vishnu avatar, tells that life is a journey of grit, dedication and determination - then you can face any bigger power The trend to caricaturize Ravan has been reversed in your play It is written on the banner, discover Ramayan's untold chapter which is the specialty  You could have easily used all the old ways of showing the Ramayan, why try new stuff? Some people may find it controversial, I did not as it is backed by history But why the need to focus on unknown aspects? The entire  country has either watched, listened or read the story of Lord Ram But such a grand personality has many aspects That is why the tale has passed down the generations and many perspectives have been added to it You cannot cover the whole wide range of a grand personality  You want to cover it all, you try to, but covering a life in few hours is not possible Then you choose those instances which make you feel that human has transcended into Narayan As our elders also say that humans have Gods residing inside There is Godliness and humanness in the human so we thought to pick those instances We thought these were instances when we question Lord Ram, and we find the answers also as it should be When I look at you, I see exit gate and a throne and you can see the lights This guy is wearing grey t-shirt I will say no he is wearing a shirt We both are right, to realize complete truth, we have to come together Both were telling facts We see the story of Lord Ram from our viewpoint and I believe Arguments and logic can defeat someone, not make them agree and it is used in courts, which are driven by facts Fact can be one, but truths related to the fact can be different So we have touched upon those aspects, questions and answers related to grandeur of his character The starting of Humare Ram poses questions on Lord Ram, Mata Sita goes into Earth, Luv Kush questioning their father, who appears weak, unable to answer It is a different interpretation, so what was people's reaction to that? This question can be made on the first scene but by the last scene... Lord Shri Ram has the answers When we question someone who is in powerful position, if it were you or I, we would scold or argue but the truly all powerful person would not spare energy on that, but on finding the answer instead of saying how powerful you are when people related to you start answering for your truth then we are powerful If we are to judge Gold, we cannot use metal, if we are to judge quality of Gold, we have to use parameters fit, or worthy of Gold We have not got a negative reaction, because our thinking and goal are positive, and no business mindset so we worked as artists We used our imagination and our art, to convey the epic story for the benefit of all people, so it is joy as an artist Where we see everything in black and white in today's generation... you are introducing Ravan as ultimate Shiv devotee and Pandit - and people received it well We have shown as it is in Ramayan Ravan was a devotee of Lord Shiva Ravan kidnapped Goddess Sita ji and fought with Jatayu  Nose of Shurpanakha was cut, it was written We have not changed anything from our side But behind those incidents we have, if you touch electric wire what will happen? - shock
- and if not? Then it is not live electric wire So if you come into contact with Lord Ram and if your character is not elevated after it, then you are questioning his existence Even if you approach Lord Ram full of doubts, Ram will remove those doubts, you are connecting with his aura... even if it is Ravan When in contact with Lord Ram, then a transformation will definitely occur Why it is said, when we come in contact with all knowing Guru then we also become wise so that is the impact Where the almighty's eyes lay, life emerges and if eyes close life also disappears so Lord Ram came to Earth as avatar of that great form Questions come into our minds as audiences, this play is of forces between Lord Ram and Ravan Bhagwan Shri Ram wants Pandit Ravan to establish the Shivling Before the war against Ravan, Lord Ram wants Ravan to lay the foundation of Shivling We cannot make our friends do what we want Whereas Lord Ram can make Ravan do so, it is a lesson on approach to life that if you respect your foes If you recognize the qualities of your enemy then it becomes helpful for you They have to fight against Ravan and through Ravan they wish to complete their task It shows the skill of transforming enemy to friend We ignore positives of our friends and condemn the positives of our enemies Lord Ram tells us there are positives in enemies, despite bad deeds, you have won over Lord Shiva who protects you So without pleasing Lord Shiva, it is not possible to defeat you and you are the one who can call upon Lord Shiva  Rahul, who plays Lord Ram, asks for a boon - victory on Lanka The enemy you are going to fight, taking aid from that enemy... that when you defeat the enemy there will be no angst So it is a very peculiar thing to observe Lord Ram is saying there is enmity but no anger So this journey is to elevate ourselves They are our ancestors, what we did we worshipped their feet... but did not follow their actions That is our attempt with the play to show the story... as actors Rahul, the producer, is a devotee of Lord Shiva, the goal is not to create new meaning, whatever is necessary to narrate the story in authenticity is available We cannot diminish the story and maintain the grandeur We have arranged best of the best, whatever was possible and all the shows were ticketed  We have completed 78 shows in 155 days so it has been done with speed by Felicity Theatre  As actor, it is our responsibility to show perfectly what role is being given to us But to reach a wider audience, the hard work done needed by producer that was done In today's generation, newspaper and television can say once or twice, hoardings are put this is the first play that has got so many hoardings in cities This joy is accessible to cinema actors Somewhere this is the belief and work of Rahul as he is not miserly, and that is showing results More than billboard, the word of mouth is working well for the play... but people say perhaps the audio was recorded, otherwise how it's possible So there was a lot of physical effort I also observed timeless political commentary in the play When Ravan is talking to Lord Ram in a dream - why he killed other people if enmity was with him Lord Ram says, bad deeds of the ruler also bear bad fruits for the people The world has been living in civilization for thousands and thousands of years But when we talk about a good administration, we talk about Ram Rajya Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna have also ruled
- but we do not talk about Krishna raj Lord Parashuram had mastered weaponry and education, he also ruled But still if you talk about Ram Rajya, and I believe that Ramayan and story of Lord Ram is for upliftment of society as a whole While Lord Krishna is talking about upliftment of person through Geeta When you talk about politics, it can have two meanings One is how you rule, and another is how you rule as per the law It is up to us what we choose Every time has their laws, but Ramrajya feels timeless because it talks about society and thinking as a whole For the establishment of dharma Lord Ram is ready to sacrifice himself If there is an allegation of Mata Sita, then he diverted all the attention and took it upon himself  We don't talk about Mata Sita or Luv Kush, we question and discuss whether Lord Ram did the right thing, that this should not have been done Mata Sita who was his love, his pride, his life and energy, if his own people start questioning her character Then he removed her from that environment and took all the arrows of doubts on himself Even today we do evaluation of Lord Ram, how could that have been done, that was not right, etc. I believe, he talks about system and thinking in Ramrajya In Ramraj, importance is on the person, while in Rajya importance is given to system, thoughts and ideas Obviously I will not reveal the climax but.. when Lord Ram sends Laxman to learn from Pandit Ravan as he is dying we learn how ego and pride can destroy someone  the conflict of daman, dominance and naman, bowing down - today we see daman being used This conflict always happens You believe in the power of naman or daman, it is your choice It will reflect your nature It is not about civilization and culture We are in civilization, and culture is how you are What you have and how you are There is one thing above these That is nature Daman and naman, respecting the enemy, we can try this Ravan was too proud of his education and Ram is aware of  One is boastful of his achievements, and other is aware of power of ego then that goes on the path of naman You can rule over a land with the path of daman but you can win someone with naman Hammer and key are made of metal, hammer was elderly and told the key  that even though I am elder the lock does not listen to me, despite being of same family of metals But he listens to you, then the key replied -  you hammer the head of the lock while I enter his heart and lock opens Both are ways to open the lock But hammer has to hit the lock to break it open while the key opens the lock, both do the trick Key when turned on one side the lock opens while turn the other side it is locked Not only must the key know how to enter heart but also know how to turn If we go clockwise the lock opens If we go against time, anti clockwise, then it is locked Keep your pace with changing times and you will open all the locks All this you can learn from character of Lord Ram, and that is why timeless politics Thousands of years have gone by, if you and I pass away, our families will forget then what is the reason You either see him as friend or enemy but you keep Lord Ram at the center That is why we feel it is timeless If we follow his actions instead of just worshipping, if we do as he says Then in our lives, we will enter in the direction of creating friends from enemies When Rahul had this thought of a play, I wanted to play Ravan since very early on What could we do? We as actors can convey it to the audience So many shows have happened in the past, so many perspectives  As you see you create We may have achieved some things, but how much will our family members remember after we are gone? But we are remembering him, his nature even after thousands of years,  If we are sad, then thinking about him is uplifting and fills us with self belief Taking his name has value in a pledge what about our names? That is why he is timeless Here your linkage to the play is more than that of an actor An actor does not research all this and write an entire book on it
- released in 2020 and Humare Ram in 2023 I will have to learn time management from you how you manage all this The answer is simple, no matter how busy we are, we find time for food and nutrition  If the need for reading, writing, thinking is similar to nutrition then you have all the time The time you have to yourself is your luck If we live our time as per our will then we are lucky otherwise we are unlucky Tell me about your book Ramrajya - is it your understanding, a philosophical understanding? Who should read? Everyone should read this... you will find human connection, relatability, marketing strategy  You will find about leadership and organization  and you will find what is the difference between a leader and king You will find answers to various dimensions of life, because the life of Lord Ram is so vast You will also find about women empowerment  That is why it got the Sahitya Akademi Award  So you think we need to widen our own perspective because our viewpoint is getting limited nowadays , that only one point of view is right If we do not have a wider vision then we must go to eye specialist  The full moon is also only 25% of the moon, but we say it's a full moon Our viewpoint may be limited but nature has no limits, so when it comes in our range of view it feels like miracle The infinite divine is not lost, just sleeping inside us When the divine awakening is realized, then your viewpoint will be fixed Time, love and respect We have three things troubling us - time, love and honor If we discuss it instead of arguing - that is what Lord Ram teaches by doing When he goes to powerless monkeys, they become powerful by his presence If Ravan has higher education, highly qualified, then Ram knows its use, purpose, is well qualified  We have to choose between highly qualified and well qualified  Education is not related to knowing the facts, it is how to act how to bring people close If one is driving people away then problem is with the student So I believe people should read this book I wanted to ask, why you wrote this satirical book, we misunderstand religion and consider satire as insult We cannot tolerate satire, and you wrote a book on that First we need to understand what satire is To present where the society lacks in such a way that people do not feel bad Are we following that fundamental rule? The job is to inform Satire is telling about reality without hurting so you are trying to help the person Not to disappoint, but to educate, you will not find happiness in proving others are wrong but to help them introspect Understand what comedy and satire are Comedy is when you laugh out loud, satire is when you make a faint smile, satire makes you remember the mistake We see a wide range of comedy and satire in Hindi and other languages, but today even a cartoon can hurt sentiments  Is there more satire in regional languages than mainstream? India is a country of over 7 lakh villages and as you enter you will find satire is part of daily life In a family if there are 3 brothers are they agreeing on everything? They have different perspectives and now if they have to talk on one issue - then you will find satire there as they will speak their minds  It will hurt
- yes if a thorn pierces through sole of foot then it will pain but you cannot cut off the foot Satire is like a thorn, it does not cut your foot, it pains a little ... humans are like animals except  that humans are creative, they have accumulated wisdom, they can express themselves how they feel Other animals cannot do that, but humans can - it could be cause of destruction also You have written on counter culture, human tendency is to get more cheap publicity while you write on how to conduct your self, do people like it? If we are called Vishwa guru today, then we should think differently than the world, more mature to guide the world Your choice if you want to gather waste or fragrance  What do you think? Your choice, I say. If a rag picker becomes rich, what do we say still? He is a raddi vala. What we accumulate we become
so if India is Vishwa Guru, if entire world is destroyed then you can see the world through India Because here we have all the civilizations and cultures living together Believe in Indian character ... we can survive by selling chaat but not survive by eating chaat People go to chaat, we say it is a culture of chaat We are also of this generation, then what is true freedom? we have option to live as per will True freedom is freedom to make mistakes, we spend our time as we want I have my opinion, I believe in my thinking, and same faith I have on your opinion, that is what my country and ancestors teach Respect others opinion as much you respect yours Shrimati is one who respects her husband's opinion and Shriman is one who respects his wife's opinion As you said, man can survive by selling chaat not by eating - but these days people are consuming chaat too much in social media generation 3 hour show is an achievement because people are generally moving towards Chaat - or short content  We are unaware of our mother when we are born  But slowly we develop awareness and bonding in social media it is a journey from unknown to bonding One may be in Kolkata and another in Mumbai, they are connected through social media they have not seen each other Your introduction is what you write, it is up to you whether you want to form a bond As we clean our house, we should also clean our online accounts,  In garden you sow seeds of crops not at home at home you clean the product, so if you do not pay attention which is necessary to do consciously  If we want to improve the crop we need to improve the land Critic is one who finds unwanted outsider in the crop, remove it - that is what criticism is. Give home to one who is saving the crop If you remove the crop and then ask to be called a critic, would not be right... everyone thinks they are doing the right thing If they find out it is a negative thing then they will stop doing it, but since they are in agreement with the thinking  Introspection is what they need, I believe We have to take care of our online presence and its cleanliness  If you come to my social media account then you are my guest I have to respect, appreciate and accept you My interest is in writing, people read. I do not have social media team I know it is a time waster  I read everything, the blue tick is of acknowledgement  And I answer to them myself ,... if you want to get into agriculture do it yourself, write a letter yourself, request yourself, scratch an itch yourself If you want to live happily  So if you come to my social media account there is no foul language, debates happen in respectful language If someone is not respectful, there is freedom to block someone It is my thought for you, that you are in pain reading my work, then I will try to solve that, and solve my problem while doing so I also don't want to be disappointed by what you say... this is a thought, not a point of view You are from Lucknow so you have lived and experienced a different life I have come from a small place called Gadarwara so it is a different experience My nature, my pace depends on my acquired experience It is our choice of how we achieve things My whole viewpoint is that we have option, to give respect if we are in contact If cannot respect, then do not disrespect ... anger is not for destroying others but to achieve equip yourself With me there is entry gate, no exit gate - you can enter by your choice but not leave, because we are here to grow together, not destroy  It is our choice because we are rowing the boat of life on our own , giving it direction If you change the direction the shore is also changed, change your thinking then the luck will change The thing you say about elevating the thought process but as I see in society thought process is degenerating - how to stop that? Is there a way how to enlarge the vision and though process? when we start thinking not just for ourselves, I was fortunate to learn that from our Guru and there are people who inspire you to expand your vision You can either contract your vision or expand it You have to start on yourself, when you want it to happen... you will say everyone thinks the best for themselves But one who thinks best of themselves also thinks best of others too. You feel big in their company. If you are great, then it is duty to tell others how great and able they are When you think like that then you will read, speak and write good If you want to be timeless like Lord Ram, Kabir Das ji, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Vivekananda, then you have to follow that kind of path Win over yourself before trying to win the world The journey starts with self, when we cannot do what we want to achieve and we want the world to follow us? That is why our texts teach self discipline before governance. We have all the right means but we use them wrongly If we want the world to listen to us, first have a control on your thoughts... but the opposite usually happens because we fulfill others' desires but not our own  we spend all energy in convincing others rather than working on ourselves, so I think first improve yourself  because small working parts make up a big machine, so if the big machine has to work all the small parts must function well You and I are small parts of the big system If in my body, right hand does not function as left hand, if right and left eye see in opposite directions, then what will the world say about us? It is deformation If right leg is on left and left says you are insulting me, and if right hand says how dare you left hand insult my family - then we will destroy ourselves  We have to work together for the body to be balanced Strings on Veena have different notes, but combined they can make a symphony  You may forget after listening, but this is my thinking, to live in a way so that there is peace and harmony within my mind This does not mean success or the world will respect you , no  But then you will be living with happiness Last question, writing a book is a different joy in itself I salute that. A big actor who has seen success in cinema, now is giving more importance to theatre Massive play with great number of shows, people are talking about it nationwide So where is the happiness? Is it the theatre play or the mainstream cinema? Theatre, cinema or OTT these are all platforms to showcase your art - they are not art - art is made on these platforms The difference in joys of theatre and cinema is that when you get payment in cash, so the cash counter whereas cinema is like credit, you have got it but cannot be seen This is like preparing a fresh meal and getting paid for it I have worked in various mediums and I always wanted to play the role of Ravan, so there will be a prequel  It will show the journey of becoming Ravan and Felicity theatre of Rahul is working on that First you will see Lankesh, its tentative name, and then Humare Ram It is in the works Live counter is the joy here, where it is like you getting a hot meal The difference between freshly prepared hot meal and meal in hot case - theatre is like a live counter It gives freedom to experiment In cinema frame goes close to the scene, camera is built on principles of eye You can do close shot or wide shot Here actor has to attract the eyes of audience , close or wide shot, you have to do that to the sitting audience so this is a challenge in itself Suppose I want audience to focus on my face, while my whole body is visible ... camera has that freedom it can only show upper part What happens below is not shown But in theatre I, as an actor, have to take your attention to various parts so you are manipulating the lens of the eye of the audience It is a joy and you're always aware You have to act for over 3 hours, here another problem is... actor established connect with audience but not with character Sometimes there is applaud, and there is laughter so it keeps you alert but because there was connect on the stage and it was received well by the audience Acting is not a solo activity, it teaches you how to connect perhaps two actors who do not like each other have to play brothers How will you do that? These are all the challenges When you are moving in spotlight people are seeing you but you cannot see them - these are all the details They keep you alert and alertness is first step to success and joy Live your life being aware and it will be a joy May you climb the ladder of success even more, keep enjoying the live counter,  we usually do political interview, this was one uplifting interview It was a pleasant experience, wishing you success
- thank you so much Akash

Transcript for:Exploring Themes in 'Humare Ram' Play

Transcript for:
Exploring Themes in 'Humare Ram' Play