Kumud Mishra: Theatres don’t have sustaining power like films. Theatre is worse off than cinema in this pandemic

In the last few years, he has been appreciated for his performances in movies such as Thappad, Article 15 (2019), Mulk (2018), among others and actor Kumud Mishra feels the faith of the filmmakers has worked. “As an actor, when a director can see you in different roles, your confidence increases. In the last 4-5 years, my career has grown well and that is due to the different kind of roles I played and the kind of cinema that is being made today. People today appreciate good cinema and I appreciate the roles coming my way. Jo ab zyada maatra mein hai,” says the actor.

In August, his film Ram Singh Charlie released online which featured him as the lead. But he says, he doesn’t look at roles as the lead or character. “Of course, when you play a lead role, your responsibility is much more. I have always enacted all roles as important characters and this was the same manner of approaching this role as well,” he says, adding that playing a role, where the character dressed up and acts like the well-known comedian Charlie Chaplin was exciting. “Main kharab copy karta hoon so I didn’t want to imitate him. I was concerned about playing the Chaplin part in the film convincingly,” he says.

Having being part of theatre and numerous plays, Mishra admits that he he didn’t want to struggle in films so he stuck to theatre, in his career. “Initially, I wasn’t interested in television or films and loved theatre. Also I might have been scared of the struggle or of failure in films or didn’t think I was capable enough. I did a bit of TV to earn money. But it took me almost 10 years to start doing films regularly but here I am,” he explains.

While he can’t wait for the cinemas to open again as he misses the energy of cinema halls. His heart pains for the theatres and personnel who work in theatres. ““Theatres don’t have sustaining power like films. Theatre is worse off than cinema in this pandemic. Live plays will take time and people are thinking of options. Backstage personnel and theatre actors are suffering,” he concludes.