Aniruddh Dave: Theatre gives you so many lessons in acting

Actor Aniruddh Dave has been involved in theatre since the early years of his acting profession. Speaking on the occasion of World Theatre Day, which is observed on March 27, Aniruddh says that he owes it all to the stage. The actor who will be seen in the film Chandu Champion says that theatre can teach you a lot in terms of acting.

“It depends on the actors and why they are doing theatre, for money or creative satisfaction. I believe that theatre can also pay you well, if you are good.

- Aniruddh Dave

“Any actor who has done theatre well has surely got so many valuable lessons in acting. It’s a matter of destiny of how much an actor gets work after that, but theatre would have surely given so much to him in terms of knowledge. The OTT boom has given a platform and also a spotlight to the actors from theatre who once were labelled as a down market. I also credit theatre a lot, not only for my acting skills, but also for my love of poetry and literature,” he says.

Ask him if he has ever faced any stage fright, and he says, “Theatre gives you an aesthetic sense of enactment, which gives a different confidence. Today, the prospects of acting are changing but the basics are given by theatre. The amount of acting, emoting, and language is all taught in theatre. Pankaj Tripathi once said that acting is like cooking, you should know the right quantities of spices and salt to put in for a great dish. While acting, you should know the right amount of emotions.  I never feared acting on stage, and since childhood, I have worked on stage. I have performed at multiple places, be it NSD's Abhimanch or Delhi's Kamani theatre.”

When asked about his favourite theatre actors, he says, “I love to watch Vijaykumar, an NSD alumni, Yashpal Sharma, Rakesh Bedi, and Satish Kaushik.”

A lot of actors don't want to do theatre because it doesn't pay well. However, the actor says that if you are good, you are sure to get paid well as well. “It depends on the actors and why they are doing theatre, for money or creative satisfaction. I believe that theatre can also pay you well, if you are good. I was working on TV back then, so I couldn't take up any theatre, but I wish to do a solo act at the international theatre festival by NSD, in which I have participated in the past as well,” he says.