Flying High

Maverick theatremaker Akarsh Khurana has been balancing theatre and cinema for almost two decades now. While his work in the two mediums might be starkly different, they stand out for their ability to engage with audiences. Khurana brings The Kite Runner to stage this month and this mammoth challenge is equal parts daunting and satisfying.

- Arnesh Ghose

When I walk into Sitara Studio to sit in for a rehearsal of the stage adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the cast is merrily trying out blood capsules. The set has mock rock structures, a table with decanters of alcohol in them and some glossy kites hanging from the ceiling. The production team is trying to get the amount and viscosity of the blood right. It is a casual Wednesday morning. As I sit down to chat with writer-director Akarsh Khurana, the man seems so chill, you wouldn’t guess that he was mounting a colossal text like The Kite Runner in a few weeks. “I read The Kite Runner as soon as it came out. I liked the book. It perhaps didn't change my life, but it was a really good read.” Khurana tells me, as we settle into a back room at Sitara, amidst costumes and props. “Cut to, I think I was in a book shop in Dubai, and in the play section I saw The Kite Runner. I couldn’t believe someone had adapted it. But I didn’t buy a copy. Then, I think about a year later, in Bangalore, I saw a copy again in a store. I was like ‘okay, it found its way back to me, I’m gonna pick it up’”.

This is not the first time Khurana is dealing with the Middle East. Almost ten years back, his theatre company, Akvarious Productions, had brought Hassan Abdul Razzak’s Baghdad Wedding to Mumbai with Nimrat Kaur in the lead. He tells me about how he has always been obsessed with the Middle East and has spent a lot of time reading and mulling over the socio-economic and political situations and affairs of the region. Hence, The Kite Runner didn’t feel like alien territory. “Mathew Spangler, a professor of Performance Studies in San Francisco, adapted the book into a play.” Khurana tells me. “I think, now he’s also done