Life Is A Theater

Sharma is the most prominent lady artiste who has been continuously giving out stellar performances in the stage

By KABI ADHIKARI

Perhaps that was the time when the environment of theatre was supposed to be golden age. Like the mass of people who are very eager to go to cinema halls these days, the same way thousands of people used to buy tickets in black for watching 'Drama' on stages then. Though there was no publicity or marketing through Television or ads, the stage drama attracted huge crowd. It was at the age of five that Nisha Sharma first set her steps on the stage when she played in a drama named 'Kankal' made of Bijay Malla. Thus, began the stage journey of Nisha Sharma.

Neither her family members nor others were aware of her innate talent in acting. Sharma's talent slowly became known when she played a role of a school girl in 'Prithvi Akash Magchhe'. That was her home production.

Born in 1971, in Kalimati, Kathmandu , Sharma is a gifted woman with multifaceted personality. She is an artiste who has played both in tele-serials and drama. Her first tele-serial was “Jeevan Bima” made again by Bijay Malla. She played in many popular serials including 'Dosh Kasaiko Chhaina', Nimitta Nayak', Chatureko Daupetch', 'Hat kholako goreto', 'Ahat', 'Laxmania', Sandhya Sarash', ‘Bhid Dekhi Bhid Samma’, among others.

She was active in tele-serials after 1990. As the value and charm of stage drama had been decreasing, she began getting popular through serials. However, in subsequent years she returned to the stage. For more than three decades now, drama has remained the centre of her life. She stepped into this world of make-belief at the early age of five. She says she will never be able to stay away from it. She has already performed in more than 40 dramas in her life.

Her performance as Nora in "A Doll's House" by Henry Ibsen made her very famous in many countries. While watching her performance, many audience found their expressions of pain in it. Sharma got the opportunity to visit Denmark , Norway , Bangladesh and so on to perform 'A Dolls House". The response of audience was very touching, she explains.

Similarly, 'Agniko Katha' has also carried its own story that made her to visit such countries, like Russia , Denmark , Bangladesh , India etc. The participation of India , Germany , Iran , Thailand , Pakistan , Sri Lanka and Bangladesh including Nepal had celebrated Agniko Katha in 'School of All India Medical Theatre'. “Mayadevi ka sapana” directed by herself also won accolades, where her main role is very attractive.

"To me, drama in real sense is something that depicts each and every aspect of materialistic life as well as spiritualism in an artistic manner," says she. For further support in drama field, she has visited some countries for training. In 2002, Sharma went to Denmark for 6 months. Similarly, in 2005, she got a chance to go to Norway twice where she took one and half month of training in Norwegian Theatre School . She attended theatre-related class, and process of drama in ' Theatre Academy Norway '.

She reveals that the most dangerous part of playing parts in drama is the psychological impact the one has while playacting diverse character roles.

Sharma has performed in various street dramas aimed at raising public awareness on issues such as plantation of trees, pure water, sanitation, etc.

She has also played in few feature films. But she wants to introduce herself as a practitioner artiste of theatre but not the artiste of film industry because the environment of film industry is not ‘suitable’ to her. The self-satisfaction that is found in theatre, cannot be found in film industry, she believes.

Apart from this, Sharma is a teacher at Gurukul. Aarohan is an organization registered in 1982 whereas Gurukul is a project. Gurukul was inaugurated in 2002. Apart from creating and staging plays, Gurukul has also been imparting theatre education. She has been 'Guru Ama' to the 17 young students who are studying at Gurukul Theatre. Students are not allowed to leave Gurukul until they complete their course of certain period. This has increased the devotion of students towards drama. Since most of the students study there on scholarship, this has added financial burdens on the association. With the partnership of Norwegian National Theatre and Denmark , it is mobilizing resources to meet those demands.

As a recognition to her contribution in this sector, she was awarded the prestigious Dabali Award for the year 2003 on World Theatre Day, Shikhar Puraskar for 'Bhid Dekhi Bhid Samma', Nimitta Nayak in 1988/89. Likewise, the ITI (International Theatre Institute) has also recognized her for her contribution.

Her husband Sunil Pokhrel is an equally big name in Nepali theatre sector. Sharma finds it very easy to work with her husband.