by Subhash K Jha

The accomplished actor Sushant Singh who gets to play the mythic painter M.F. Husain in the play Husain Ki Kahani Husain Ki Zubani, which opened on Saturday evening at Prithvi Theatres (Mumbai), is outraged at the circumstances that prevented the painter from attending the inaugural show of the play.

Says Sushant, "Husain Saab's son, daughter and grand-daughters attended the show....much to my delight. But Husain Saab couldn't come. Apparently members of a Hindu radical organization from Delhi have offered a reward of some lakh reupees to anyone who cuts off Husain Saab's hands for painting the Bharat Mata without clothes."

Sushant is livid. "We thought such diktats were peculiar to one community. I guess we Hindus want to prove we can do what the others can. ...Anyway Husain Saab's absence was the only sore point on the opening night. His grand daughters were reduced to tears."

Sushant plays the painter from age 20 to 52. "So I'm on stage for almost two hours non-stop. I go through various changes in my look, body language and speech in front of the audience. It was a challenge that put the fear of God in me on the opening night, specially since the august gathering included the likes of Gulzar Saab, Waheeda Rehmanji and Shabana Azmi.

Fortunately for me, my performance went off smoothly...no hitches at all. Even my wife Molina who's my greatest critic liked my performance."

Sushant was on stage last year in the play Hands Ya Feet with Nandita Das. "But here playing Husain Saab, I had to hold fort almost by myself except for the first 45 minutes when another actor played the adolescent part Husain Saab's life. I was specially scared because I look nothing like the painter. Luckily for me the audience went beyond the physicality in no time at all."

Tonight Sushant performs the play a second time at Prithvi. "This performance will be even harder because the audience at the opening was invited. On Sunday night it's the ticket-paying audience. And I know they'll be merciless."

After performing the play late in the night, Sushant leaves for Hyderabad to shoot for Mani Shankar's Mukhbir. "Such is the life of an actor," he sighs. "I love the challenge of going from one performing medium to another."