An encounter with a Thespian...
Sailesh Prajapati is a renowned theatre artist; he also owns a media production company in Auckland. Rich in his experience and invincible as an actor, he has been inthe media industry for over 30 years. Indian Weekender speaks to the thespian...
Since when did you start acting?
It has been almost 35 years since I started doing theatre, I was paid Rs. 100 for my first play which was a Gujrati folk play called ‘Jasma Odan’. Since I was very good in Garba, I was asked by my friends to learn classical dance. So, I went to Darpana and met Kailash Pandya there; he told me that I should get involved in drama and learn acting. I was a little taken aback but he insisted. He said he saw an actor in me. So, there started my journey with the performing arts and I still feel the same enthusiasm and energy even today with theatre.
From the very start I had this inclination towards creative arts, though I studied law but somehow after freelancing in this field it became my passion and I have been into this industry since.
What about the theatre draws you so much?
Theatre is completely a different world, in movies especially in Bollywood the actors are more of stars and are not necessarily much of actors. In theatre you have to be very careful when it comes to projecting your body language, emphasizing on your expressions, delivering your dialogues and if there are mistakes then prompt improvisation. In fact, there is no room for mistakes on stage.
Also in film shooting you have the provisions for retakes, not much crowd around and post production smoothes the final product, but in theatre you perform in front of a live audience and again no room for retakes.
Have you worked with TV as well in the past?
Yes, I was associated with Doordarshan for 5 years as production assitant and director for their TV series. In 1993 I left Doordarshan and started Bermuda telefilms Ltd, which focussed on TV series in Gujrati. While freelancing and doing roles in TV series at times I kept working with this media industry. I played the character of “Ernie” in America’s television programme in Power Rangers Megaforce in 2014.
How many plays have you done so far?
I have done 35 full length plays of two hours both Gujrati and Hindi and 20 one act plays of 40 minutes.
Is there a mentor or an idol that you follow?
When I joined theatre 35 years back Kailash Pandya from Darpana and Raju Barot were my mentors and they have been my backbone. I have also worked with Raghubir Yadav from NSD and Peepli Live fame, Ketan Mehta, Nadita Das, Abhijat Joshi, Saumya Joshi . Here in New Zealand Vanessa Alexander has been a good friend; she is well recognised in the NZ TV industry. She has been of immense support ever since I completed my Post Graduate Diploma in Arts (Film, TV and Media) from University of Auckland in the early 2007.
You can visit Shailesh http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3666535/
Other than plays, what do you do?
I am a freelance post production service provider in Film and Telivision industry of New Zealand. I have worked in television earlier too and now I have Indo NZ Film Company that does post production work for TV series and advertisements. Recently I worked for Power Rangers-Dino Charge and working for “Filty Rich” TV drama serise for TV2 and did acting in advertisement of NZTA on drug driving. My agents are “Auckland Actors”.
How has been your association with Rangmanch?
Rangmanch started in 2007 and used to do only Hindi plays initially then we have started doing Gujarati Plays and a year back the idea came to make Rangmanch bigger by including more languages. The effort has been put ever since to get everything together from different plays to actors, music, lighting, properties, booking theatre, tickets etc.
I am the treasurer at Rangmanch, directed Gujaratiplays so far and acted in Hindi plays as well. The response we got was phenomenal; everybody was pleased with the quality of the plays and the magnitude of the crowd. We have just wrapped up the show and collecting the properties from the theatre and the videos of reviews should be on Facebook soon.
Any advice you would like to give to budding actors?
If someone is keen to join theatre he has to do some schooling in performing arts and has to have a passion, a drive to dedicate his/her time and energy into acting; and that has to be continuous.
Do you plan to make feature film in the future?
Yes, I do have plans to make a full length feature film very soon, I have been working on the script for two years, and it’s on and off. I have also contacted a few production houses back in India and look forward to get the actors.
Sailesh Prajapati is a renowned theatre artist; he also owns a media production company in Auckland. Rich in his experience and invincible as an actor, he has been inthe media industry for over 30 years. Indian Weekender speaks to the thespian...
Since when did you start acting?
It has been...
Sailesh Prajapati is a renowned theatre artist; he also owns a media production company in Auckland. Rich in his experience and invincible as an actor, he has been inthe media industry for over 30 years. Indian Weekender speaks to the thespian...
Since when did you start acting?
It has been almost 35 years since I started doing theatre, I was paid Rs. 100 for my first play which was a Gujrati folk play called ‘Jasma Odan’. Since I was very good in Garba, I was asked by my friends to learn classical dance. So, I went to Darpana and met Kailash Pandya there; he told me that I should get involved in drama and learn acting. I was a little taken aback but he insisted. He said he saw an actor in me. So, there started my journey with the performing arts and I still feel the same enthusiasm and energy even today with theatre.
From the very start I had this inclination towards creative arts, though I studied law but somehow after freelancing in this field it became my passion and I have been into this industry since.
What about the theatre draws you so much?
Theatre is completely a different world, in movies especially in Bollywood the actors are more of stars and are not necessarily much of actors. In theatre you have to be very careful when it comes to projecting your body language, emphasizing on your expressions, delivering your dialogues and if there are mistakes then prompt improvisation. In fact, there is no room for mistakes on stage.
Also in film shooting you have the provisions for retakes, not much crowd around and post production smoothes the final product, but in theatre you perform in front of a live audience and again no room for retakes.
Have you worked with TV as well in the past?
Yes, I was associated with Doordarshan for 5 years as production assitant and director for their TV series. In 1993 I left Doordarshan and started Bermuda telefilms Ltd, which focussed on TV series in Gujrati. While freelancing and doing roles in TV series at times I kept working with this media industry. I played the character of “Ernie” in America’s television programme in Power Rangers Megaforce in 2014.
How many plays have you done so far?
I have done 35 full length plays of two hours both Gujrati and Hindi and 20 one act plays of 40 minutes.
Is there a mentor or an idol that you follow?
When I joined theatre 35 years back Kailash Pandya from Darpana and Raju Barot were my mentors and they have been my backbone. I have also worked with Raghubir Yadav from NSD and Peepli Live fame, Ketan Mehta, Nadita Das, Abhijat Joshi, Saumya Joshi . Here in New Zealand Vanessa Alexander has been a good friend; she is well recognised in the NZ TV industry. She has been of immense support ever since I completed my Post Graduate Diploma in Arts (Film, TV and Media) from University of Auckland in the early 2007.
You can visit Shailesh http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3666535/
Other than plays, what do you do?
I am a freelance post production service provider in Film and Telivision industry of New Zealand. I have worked in television earlier too and now I have Indo NZ Film Company that does post production work for TV series and advertisements. Recently I worked for Power Rangers-Dino Charge and working for “Filty Rich” TV drama serise for TV2 and did acting in advertisement of NZTA on drug driving. My agents are “Auckland Actors”.
How has been your association with Rangmanch?
Rangmanch started in 2007 and used to do only Hindi plays initially then we have started doing Gujarati Plays and a year back the idea came to make Rangmanch bigger by including more languages. The effort has been put ever since to get everything together from different plays to actors, music, lighting, properties, booking theatre, tickets etc.
I am the treasurer at Rangmanch, directed Gujaratiplays so far and acted in Hindi plays as well. The response we got was phenomenal; everybody was pleased with the quality of the plays and the magnitude of the crowd. We have just wrapped up the show and collecting the properties from the theatre and the videos of reviews should be on Facebook soon.
Any advice you would like to give to budding actors?
If someone is keen to join theatre he has to do some schooling in performing arts and has to have a passion, a drive to dedicate his/her time and energy into acting; and that has to be continuous.
Do you plan to make feature film in the future?
Yes, I do have plans to make a full length feature film very soon, I have been working on the script for two years, and it’s on and off. I have also contacted a few production houses back in India and look forward to get the actors.
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