Lillete and Ira Dubey talk about life as theatrewallahs!

For Lillete Dubey, theatre was a passion that evolved into a profession. For daughter Ira Dubey, it's been a combination of nurture and nature.

`It's a blessing to find something that we both love and enjoy,` they say. The two are part of Adhe Adhure, a Hindi play that has crossed over 40 shows and sees them playing mother and daughter on stage as well. `It is my first Hindi play as a producer, director and as an actor and Ira's first Hindi play as an actor too,` says Lillete. The Dubeys talk to CS about life as theatrewallahs:

Feeling blessed
Ira: Mom used to take us to rehearsals. This is the world we have seen from a young age. Even my masi had a children's theatre company in Delhi and I have acted in some of her plays. So some of it is in the genes, while some is the talent you hone.

It's a combination. A case of nature and nurture. The decision to take up theatre professionally was a very conscious decision. I have studied theatre. And I think I'm blessed to find something that I love doing.

Lillete: I'm a firm believer that people who discover a passion for something are really blessed. You could be doing a lot of things but if you don't have the sense of elation or joy, then nothing makes sense. The joy is in the creation of something. And that's also how you excel at anything. You have to look forward to working everyday.

Seamless transitions
Ira: Working with mom is a very enriching experience. She's a very imaginative and talented director and has a knack for casting. She's director-mom and the boundaries are very clear.

On stage, she's the director and at home, she's mom. It's very seamless. When I joined her professionally, I assisted her on a play and what I enjoyed the most, was that I could give her my inputs not just as an assistant but also as a daughter.

Lillete: I love working with my daughters. But I have never taken any of them because they are my daughters. When I'm wearing the director's cap, I'm not wearing the mother's cap. If I cast any of them, it's because I have felt that they suit the role. Personally, I enjoy directing them and seeing them grow over the years.

Getting 'play'ful
Ira: I think mom's an incredible director. I've never seen any theatre personality like her. I would like to see her in something that really challenges her, maybe something that makes her go into a place that's really uncomfortable. Second, maybe a really good comedy.

Lillete: Ira is very strong emotionally and I think she has good intensity. She's a truthful actor. Ira has the potential for comedy but it's a bit unexplored at the moment. Moral of the story is we should both do a good comedy together! (laughs)

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I'm almost half-naked in Aisha - Ira Dubey

Sexy shorts and tank tops - actress Lillete Dubey's daughter Ira Dubey has worn all this and even less for her first commercial Bollywood film Aisha in order to look flamboyant and wild, and says she felt almost "half-naked". "My character in Aisha is quite flamboyant and wild. So my clothes required to be bizarrely quirky and bold.Fashion is a huge element in Aisha," Ira told IANS.

She added: "I was told that whichever clothes you see on the ramp and say - 'Who will wear that?' - that's the confidence that my character Pinki Bose must have." So, she did just that. "My own personal style of dressing is very experimental.

I like to have fun with my clothes. One day I came back from my trials and told my elder sister Neha that I have to wear really bizarre clothes for Aisha. She said: 'That's easy because it will be just like you!' Then I told her it is 20 times more bizarre than I can get!" Ira said.

"There are clothes in funky and bold colours and they are really short. I keep joking that I'm almost half-naked in the film. There are really short pairs of shorts and I wear a bikini in a scene where we play beach volleyball," she said.

"In 60-70 percent of the film, I am wearing shorts and wear one or two skirts as well," added Ira, who insisted on wearing spectacles in the film to add zing to her character.

The 26-year-old theatre actress said she has developed a brave fashion sense after Aisha, which is based on Jane Austen's popular novel Emma.

"I have definitely become braver in style. I have a very petite frame and my co-actors used to keep saying 'you can carry them off well'. Even though I do wear a lot of funky stuff, I haven't been very bold," she said.

"But I guess now I am a little more confident on that front," said Ira, who requested producer Rhea Kapoor to let her keep a pair of chic navy blue boots that she wore in the film. Before Aisha, Ira featured in Rohan Sippy's The President Is Coming and also was a movie critic for Sony Pix's Chicks On Flicks.

At the moment, she is "a bundle of nerves" and hopes she does not get typecast in Bollywood. "It's very easy to get typecast in the Indian film industry. In my last film The President Is Coming, I played a sophisticated upper class girl. In Aisha also, I play someone who likes high-end things. But now I really want to work with directors like Anurag Kashyap and Vishal Bharadwaj to play more grounded roles," Ira said.

"I've done many strong, female-oriented roles in plays, so I am capable of doing simpler looking, tough roles and prove that I can handle a whole lot of diverse work," she added. Aisha also features Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Arunoday Singh and newcomers Amrita Puri and Lisa Haydon. Ira plays the role of Pinky Bose, a filthy rich girl who is best friends with Sonam's character Aisha.

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