My Character Picks

William Shakespeare, a great writer, was born on April 23(presumed), 1564 and died on the same day; April 23 in the year 1616. Little knowledge I had about him till I finished high school. Then I had to learn his play “Julius Caesar”, which was prescribed by the ICSE Board. At first, I had no interest to study it. But as days passed, I felt an attraction towards the theme of the story. That was just the beginning of my feelings towards such historical plays. I started imagining myself to be an actor. Not any hero of a sci-fi movie or fantasy genre, but portraying the role of Marcus Brutus.

Yes, my favourite character in “Julius Caesar” is Caesar’s dear friend Brutus. From the beginning itself we could understand he had no ill-feelings towards Caesar. He is Caesar’s good friend. Being a calm, noble Roman who gives priority to the welfare of his people, he was ready to do whatever for them. With this state of mind, he couldn’t understand the jealousy of Cassius towards Caesar. As the scenes proceed, no one will feel bad about him, but about Cassius and other jealous traitors. According to Brutus, his actions were aimed at the well-being of Rome and its people.

From Rome, I was planted to Scotland. Being exposed to anoth

er tragedy, I really felt – why is it so? My sister studied under same board. But she studied two comedies – “Tempest” and “Merchant of Venice”. In higher secondary, the tragedy I had to study was “Macbeth”. I was too sad. I wanted more stuffs from Rome. As usual, when days passed, I began to forget what happened there at Rome, and my mind was full of Scotland.

In this play, the name itself declares who is the real hero – Macbeth (too bad Julius Caesar isn’t the real hero in that play). He is ambitious, but not a born criminal. The murderer in him was summoned by his own lovely wife (Lady Macbeth). He loves

his wife very much, which made him think that whatever she says, is going to yield good results. But as scenes proceed, the dark tone of this drama won’t allow poor Macbeth to enjoy any of his noble positions – Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. The Three Witches do warn him in a mysterious way, which was far away from his logic, leading him to death.

I must say, if I ever get a chance to play a role in these two dramas, undoubtedly I will pick Brutus and Macbeth. They are my heroes in those Shakespearean tragedies.

That’s all about historical stuffs, but what about mythological characters? Want to know? Ok, I will say.

In Mahabharatha, my favourite character is Karna. Though he is fighting for Kauravas, he had known much earlier that Pandavas are his brothers. But he did not want to be in dilemma; i.e. , he had taken pledge to end Arjuna’s pride in the war. Eventhough Arjuna is his brother, Karna had his complete loyalty to Duryodhana, who helped him in a much needed time. From his introduction, till death, he is the represen

tative of so many good elements like kindness, helpfulness, loyalty, friendship, trust, etc which makes him different from others. He kept his promise to mother Kunthi that he won’t kill any brother other than Arjuna. It was tricks of Lord Indra and Lord Krishna that helped Arjuna kill Karna.

Jai Hanuman! Yes, when it comes to Ramayana, my pick is Hanuman. He is strong, loyal and well-determined. His strong will power can be seen throughout this epic. Being a devotee of Lo

rd Rama, Hanuman did his best to help him regain Lord Rama’s beloved wife Sita, who was taken away by the demon Raavana. For all his actions, Lord blessed him with immortality.

My favourite God is Lord Shiva. I don’t know if I am lucky enough to portray him one

day on stage. I feel really great to imagine me in that costume. With the trident, snake around my neck..Oh God!Please give me a chance!

At school I did enact Rana Sanga and Vasishta in two dramas and gained generally mixed to positive reviews. Later, no dramas were played due to the fast approaching ISC exams.

But what made me sad was something else. After my batch passed out, in the following year, on the school annual day, the drama “Julius Caesar” was enacted by my juniors.

After reading all these, don’t think I aim to be a drama actor alone! Of course, if I get a chance, it would be my honour to take Rupert’s role as Ron Weasley, Tobey’s role as Spiderman, Hugh Jackman’s role as Wolverine, Brad’s role as Achilles (A remake of Troy? ) or even Shah Rukh Khan’s role as Don!