I’m fascinated by how history affects people: Tom Alter

From the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi to the great poet Mirza Ghalib, to the political leader Maulana Abul Kalam Azad to the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, to the Bengali poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore, it’s rare to come across an actor, who has played so many historical characters, that too on stage. But Tom Alter has managed to achieve this feat. The veteran actor, who has always been fond of history as a child, has curated Jashn-e-Mazi, a theatre festival that celebrates both history and histrionics, comprising 17 plays including Ghalib, Babur Ki Aulad, Lal Qile Ka Aakhri Mushaira, Dozakhnama and Yadi among others. Tom spoke to After Hrs about his love for all things historical…

You’ve acted in a number of historicals, in films as well as on stage. Is there a fascination with history?

Yes, I think I’ve always been fascinated with history since childhood. Not only history, but how history affects people. More than when this king reigned or which Mughal emperor came when, but how people were affected because of that. All these plays we are doing are about time in not just Indian history but the history of the world when great change was happening. Right from Mahabharata up to the Mughals, the partition, World War I and II, to today’s India. All these very important times in the history of man are covered in these plays. I enjoyed doing these plays and I hope the audience enjoys them as well.

Director Dr Sayeed Alam offered you Maulana Azad at a time when you were associated with English theatre. How did that happen?

Well, that’s not entirely true. I was doing different types of theatre. Sayeed came to me out of the blue. I didn’t know who he was. He met me in 2002 with a script and I loved it. We started working on it and did the first of the shows at the end of 2002, so it’s been more than 14 years now that I’ve been doing this play with him. But Maulana was like a new beginning for me as an artiste. To be able to do the role of Maulana was a great challenge. I loved the challenge and since then, challenges have been coming at me one after the other.

From Maulana Azad to Ghalib to Gandhi, you have played such varied characters. How challenging is it to play them? Do historicals require more research from your end?

I don’t have to do the research. The people who write the plays have to do the research. I just act. You have a feeling for these characters. One has read and heard about them. It really is dependent on the script. For instance, with Maulana, the script is so fantastic that one doesn’t have to do any research. One just believes in the script and the play happens. Fortunately, all the plays I’ve been given have had tremendous scripts which make life for an actor much easier.

Your Urdu diction is perfect. How did you accomplish that?

I’ve been speaking Urdu since I was a child. I grew up in Mussourie, and Urdu was the language everybody spoke that time. Then I studied it for almost 10-12 years, and I continue studying it. But we grew up speaking the language, so it’s not new for me.

Your theatre journey in Mumbai started with Naseeruddin Shah and Benjamin Gilani. Do you try and watch their plays?

I try to watch anything that Ben and Naseer are involved in because I know the quality will be very good. Unfortunately, my schedule doesn’t allow me to watch many plays and I have missed some of Naseer’s recent works, including Einstein which I’m very keen to see.

Jashn-E-Mazi will take place from March 17 to April 2 at YB Chavan Centre.