Once you have consented to being raped you might as well enjoy it.

I hate THIS line - its not at all acceptable.
One.
It angers me so much that I cannot even coherently make an argument for it. Only guys say it and would they say if it were them that getting raped?
Second.
It makes no sense making a statement like this in this story. All for effect.
Blaaardy B@#$%^&

PS all those in Mumbai, avoid his plays!!!

Update: Since the link is inactive now, here is the entire interview

Write on target

Actor-turned-playwright Manav Kaul tells us what prompted him to begin writing for the stage

Pragya Tiwari

You were an actor before you turned playwright. What prompted the change?

The quality of writing was really bad when I was a stage actor. I felt guilty about subjecting the audience to such mediocre stuff, and there came a point when I quit in frustration. But that would have been a huge waste of my years in theatre. That thought compelled me to write the kind of plays I wanted to see, act in and direct. Eventually, I realised this is what I always wanted to do.

How does your writing take form?
I write like I paint. For days I sit watching a blank canvas till it tells me what colours I should spread on it. Then those colours tell me what shapes to create. I am in a relationship with that canvas for days. Then one day it tells me to leave it alone and I know my creation is complete. I live my plays, I don't create them.

Why do you always direct your own work?
When I read other peoples plays, they are either so bad that I don't want to think about them again or they are so good that my own life's experiences feel small in comparison. I want to direct what I understand best.

Don't you feel another director would be able to draw newer meanings from your writing?
I do. But I am in the initial stages of my career as playwright, and that makes me very possessive about my work. I feel others won't be able to convey what I really want to say to. But that is slowly wearing off. My first play is being translated into English and Marathi and I really wouldn't mind if someone else was to direct it now.

What do you think of the Hindi theatre scenario in Mumbai today?
To begin with I don't quite understand why people are constantly complaining about lack of funds and diminishing audiences. Theatre was never a lucrative field. Once you have consented to being raped you might as well enjoy it. Most of the established people doing Hindi theatre have been doing the same kind for years. Whether IPTA or Dinesh Thakur, they have to realise that social realities have changed. The plays they do are not relevant anymore. There is more stress on individualism today. You have to give the audience what it can relate to. Unfortunately they are not encouraging young writers or directors. They don't watch each other's work or talk about it . As a result there is very little awareness about Mumbai's Hindi theatre scenario outside of the city.

But surely theatre comes with its economic challenges. How do you cope?
If I had more money Peele Scooter Wala Aadmi would have been a lavish production and I would have been able to pay my technicians and actors adequately. But beyond that the economics do not constrain me. I do not want to earn money from my writing. If I did, I would end up compromising on what I have to say. But my needs are basic and somehow I manage to survive.

You recently won the META award (Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards) for best original script. What did it mean to you?
It gave me money to travel. Beyond that, award functions for theatre, organised by corporate houses, don't mean much to me. They tend to look at theatre as just another form of entertainment and will never be able to do justice to it unless they establish a unit dedicated to understanding and researching theatre!

People have commented on the non-theatricality of your plays.
Conventions don't matter. You don't have to confirm to norms of stagecraft or writing formats as long as you are honest and you have something real to say. The same people who criticisd the non-theatricality of my plays earlier came to congratulate me after its success.

A festival of plays written and directed by Manav Kaul is being held at the Prithvi Theatre from July 27 to 30.