Have feet, will fly

Ananya is a play about a young girl who overcomes a handicap to live life happily ever after. Actress Spruha Joshi, speaks of the challenges she faced while playing the lead in the play

Ananya is a play about a young girl who overcomes a handicap to live life happily ever after. Actress Spruha Joshi, speaks of the challenges she faced while playing the lead in the play

Spruha Joshi

Actors often talk about getting under the skin of a character, the thrill of performing a challenging role. However, it's rare for them to go beyond cursory alterations on stage. In a refreshing departure, 21 year-old Spruha Joshi, who portrays Ananya, a girl who loses her hands in a gruesome accident, learnt to write, cut a cake and pick up a bottle with her feet.

How did prepare for your role for Ananya?
It was a very, very big challenge initially but Pratap Phad (the director) sat me down and explained the character graph really well. We would rehearse for nearly nine hours a day over a period of a month. After the tenth minute of the play my character undergoes an amputation, so I had to practice writing with my leg as well as picking up a bottle and cutting the cake. It was a hectic process but a very interesting experience. I watched videos of people who have overcome similar situations and read a few articles, which made my mind very clear about how Ananya's character would have to be portrayed.

What was the most challenging aspect of the character?
The physical partu00a0-- where my hands would be tied and I had to use my legs for everythingu00a0-- was obviously the most difficult thing to do. But I had to also put in a lot of effort to understand her psychology, her gradual change from a happy- go-lucky character to a situation where she collapses and then regains faith. It was very difficult to understand her emotions and portray these, convincingly. My main aim was to make it look as natural and real as possible.