Applause from Delhi audience gives an adrenaline rush, says Puneet Issar

His portrayal of Duryodhan in BR Chopra’s TV series Mahabharat, made him a household name. And that’s one reason why actor Puneet Issar decided to revive the epic in a theatrical format, when he took to the stage a few years back. Having performed the self-written and directed play, Mahabharat, in Delhi, before the pandemic, when the actor recently returned to enact the same again, he couldn’t hold himself back from talking about the charm of Delhi’s rich culture that had to face a pause during the peak of the pandemic.

“It’s a great feeling (to be back),” says Issar adding, “November, 2019 was the last time we performed in Delhi. And now, post pandemic, all our four shows have been house full. We made this play in the end of 2018 and performed in the entire year of 2019 and early 2020, and did almost 75 shows. In a span of 15 months, we captured and conquered every major city including Mumbai, Hyderabad and Gujarat.”

With back to back shows in Delhi, Issar confesses he won’t be able to go out and enjoy Delhi as much, this time. “Nine hours of work and three hours of preparation doesn’t leave much time for anything. After this, I’ll be flying to Mumbai for a shoot. But whenever I do come to Delhi, being a theatre and art lover, I do take the time to enjoy cultural programmes that are always happening here. Samay nikalna padta hai,” says Issar who is presently busy juggling between plays and films.

His journey in dramatics started back in 2016, and he feels that the theatre culture in Delhi makes the city stand apart from the rest of India. “Yahan pe theatre ka bahut badiya culture hain. I have seen ki Delhi ke jo theatre lover hain, they enjoy the [Hindi] language. Yahan ki Hindi bhasha, samwad ka jo woh luft uthate hai, ek-ek jumlo pe jis tarha taaliyan padti hain, is what makes Delhi’s audience mesmerising! It’s like an adrenaline rush for directors and actors when they are performing in the Capital,” says Issar, as he returns to Delhi’s stage post the Covid frenzy.

But it’s not just now, Delhi has been a part of Issar’s life right from the days when he started shooting for films. He recalls: “Delhi is amazing since yahan art aur cinema ke prati logon ka bahut rujhan hai, pyaar hai. Yahan ke logon ne humesha hume saraha hai. In fact, even during the lockdown, I was in Delhi to shoot for a television series, Chhoti Sardarni, for three-four months; in bio bubbles.”

Author tweets @AngelaPaljor

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