Danish Husain: A Dastango Stranded, yet Unstoppable in America

Radhika Bhirani

rbhirani@gmail.com

In the early days of the lockdown, Danish Husain had declined a request for an online performance. But when the "changed reality" of the lockdown began dawning on him, the man who wears many hats -- actor, poet, storyteller, theatre director -- embraced what several artistes across the spectrum of performing arts in a culturally rich milieu like India are -- social media engagement.

A cursory glance at his @dan.husain Instagram page is a window into his 'A Dastango Stranded in America' series, apart from the 'gupshup', 'chai pe charcha' and 'ru-ba-ru' sessions on subjects as diverse as qissebaazi, poetry, food, religion, emotional and mental health, that have kept him on his toes through weeks of being in lockdown far away from home, in the US, in a Detroit suburb called South Lyon. Far away yes, but yet so near to an audience -- a growing one at that -- which perhaps remained out of bounds through traditional media in today's times.

Husain, who stepped on stage over 20 years ago, in a recent interview to me, pointed out a blog post by Nicholas Berger, a theatre artist in the US. The piece, 'The Forgotten Art of Assembly', he says, is on the divided opinion on the rush of artistes to perform online in this lockdown.

Summing up the post, Husain said, "The basic purport of Berger’s essay is that these are extraordinary times, we should acknowledge it, pause, and perhaps contribute in the relief work of the pandemic. And once life resumes to normalcy, we can perhaps return to creating art again. But more than that, Berger feels that art, and especially performing arts like theatre, thrive on human immediacy, on being performed live to an assemblage of human beings - the audience. The presence of the audience is fundamental to performing arts, and this premise is missing in online performances."

And also that "solo online performances are like knee-jerk reactions to finding oneself unoccupied and out of work".

While Husain felt "there is merit" in what Berger mentions, he said, "Berger fails to take note of the changing social reality in this pandemic time".

Interesting as it is, Husain had landed in the US on March 8, for performances and talks. He was scheduled to open a concert at the Town Hall in New York City with Ustad Hidayat Hussain Khan and TM Krishna, a musical storytelling Shab-e-Taj for the South Asian Music & Arts Association) celebrating Ustad Vilayat Khan’s music and the idea of love in today’s turbulent times. Besides that, he was to perform Qissebaazi at San Francisco for Enacte Arts Theatre Company, and give talks at New York, Tufts, and Princeton universities. But the pandemic left it all cancelled.

The actor, whom 'OTT' viewers have loved in outings like Bard of Blood, Taj Mahal 1989 and Yeh Ballet, said, "The pandemic has threatened the very nature of our social interaction. It has removed human touch and assemblage out of our social equation. Thus, people are responding to what is next closest to a convivial gathering - a Google Hangout or a Zoom conference."

In the case that lockdowns and social distancing become a norm, he's confident of seeing innovations herein too. It is, in fact, already happening.

"We will see live streaming, online performances becoming innovative, aesthetically better, and perhaps more professional. People, and especially artistes may start investing in better appliances, software, and apps for better lighting, camera and recording technologies, and playing around with physical surroundings to present themselves aesthetically to their online audiences," Husain added.

What we've seen this global Covid-19 crisis do also, is to make an artiste out of everyone. Painting, dancing, singing, mimicry, storytelling, book reading, poetry writing, playing instruments... people in general, and not just celebrities, have allowed a free flow of their creative juices.

And so, Husain said, "We will also see more audiences turning in to content creators. Do look out for a lot of closet actors, singers, poets, visual artists coming out and creating content."

As for the narrative behind his own plunge into the bandwagon, it's a story I wanted to know.

"Well, I was still in early days here in my trip (to the US), but becoming certain that I am here to stay for a while, when on a conference call with two dear friends, I was severely admonished and told to pull my socks up," he recounted, adding how a casual mention of the phrase, 'A Dastango Stranded In America', set the ball rolling for a series that his fans have warmed up to.

"It has motivated me to revisit my favourite poems, and also to memorise newer poems that I always wanted to. Whatever little attention I get to catch, I feel people are enjoying this series. I also want to leave a record for younger artistes where they can see how one should develop a relationship with text," he added.

Before this, Husain said, he had never performed online, or done live streaming -- barring one time at a "highly tech-sophisticated" office of a popular Indian daily.

"I am quite technologically challenged. I guess my strength lies in conceiving and performing, but I fall flat when it comes to technology or marketing or PR. And I am very reluctant when it comes to these things," avers the multi-faceted talent, in a statement which unintentionally, but correctly encapsulates several artistes' conundrum.