I was watching the movie “Jab We Met” yesterday on some channel. I’ve watched it before, but yesterday some moments in it struck me even more than before. They were so beautifully and subtly played by the actors. Really small but poignant moments…some that may even go unnoticed by many in the audience. Still, the actors worked at realising those moments. There are so many films and plays in which there are such beautiful moments created by the actors and directors.
I appreciate this quality in an actor. Being one myself, I understand what it means to capture that moment. You have to truly sink into the character…become the character so to speak. It is not easy…it tests the limits of your belief. However, each such moment makes the film, the play more real, more believable, more true. It is like a small brush stroke in a painting. It may not stand out individually, but it makes the painting that much richer and meaningful by being in it.
Many people, when they find out that I am involved in theatre, exclaim in wonder how I memorise the dialogues and remember all the movements on stage. I usually respond with a smile and leave it at that.
I rarely tell anybody that memorising dialogues and movements are kindergarten stuff. Acting, I believe, is in capturing each moment as the character, sensing each thought and feeling each emotion as the character and letting it reach the audience while maintaining that fraction of awareness as the actor in order to execute the stagecraft – the dialogues and movements – appropriately.
To live a moment as another person, to experience life in so many alternate ways, to be able to create a vibration with the audience, is, for me, THE moment of all moments. :)
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