What is your inspiration be- hind the mega s t a g e s h o w based on the Bible titled Ente Rakshakan (My Saviour)?

Mega show or a drama, what- ever you may call it, I am obeying a command I hear within. I had an in- ner call to do a program on a particular theme. I believe that the inner call is an order of God. I  am  only  obeying the orders of God. I have no role in it. I am just following the orders of the Almighty. This stage show is one such. I have been asked by the Omnipotent to present a program of this kind.

What message of the Bible do you find very captivating?

I wanted to give a new interpreta- tion to the whole Bible from an artist’s point of view. I never wanted to present Jesus as a magician or as a super hu- man. I wanted to present Him as a very ordinary person who has the mind and willingness to take the sorrows of others as His. In it lies the greatness of Jesus Christ. He is taking the pain of others into Himself. It is something we very seldom find now. That is what attracted me most about His character. Another feature is His simplicity of living. I wanted to interpret these aspects of His life in my own way.

One important thing I wish to con- vey is that He was not  a  European. But, unfortunately, wherever you go, whichever church you go all over the world, including India, you will find only the European Christ on the altar. I like to ask the Bible experts, priests and nuns,  how come this is  accepted when He is an Asian. He was born in Asia. He was born with black hair, black eyes and Asian mannerism. Then why do we accept Him as European? There has been a hijacking of Jesus Christ by the Europeans. He belongs to Asia. He is definitely born for the entire world. I wanted to reinstate Him as an Asian, and that is why I have used black hair, black eyes and Indian or Asian mannerism.

I am also mentioning the Himalayas, which stands for India and has given birth to Krishna, Buddha and all such great people, who have definitely played a role in the making of Jesus Christ. I wished to highlight the Indian influence on Jesus. All religions have come from one area, and that is because of the positive energy there was in this part of the world. That  has  to  be accepted by Eu- ropeans. Jesus Christ belongs to Asia, and I am trying to tell that.

I also wanted to communicate that He is not just another ma- gician. He has not worked won- ders. He has only educated people how to live in those times. If somebody is get- ting eyesight, it is not just because He touched him. It is not like that. He could touch everybody, why only one person. So many people were blind, so why only Bartimaeus? He is driving home the point that the real vision is not got through our eyes. There is something called the inner eye. Only if you open the inner eye,  you have the real vision. He has educated people through that one episode to see the entire world through the inner eye. He touches dead Lazarus and he comes back to life. Why not others? So many people are dying every day, why only one person? We are trying to convey that, even if He is dead, he lives in us.

If there is a girl who is very close to me, even if she dies, she lives in my heart. Mahatma Gandhi was not killed, he is liv- ing even today. The Malayalam actor Sathyan died 50 years back, but even now we are seeing his films, and through them he is alive today. He is very active even now. This is the message I want to convey.

In the stage show depicted at the tomb of Lazarus, He is ad- dressing the audience. The dead body is there, but He is not asking it to rise up, He is addressing the audience to rise, indicating that now the society is sleeping. He is asking the society to rise like He has done. I am concentrat- ing on giving such messages. In the scene of the lady caught in adultery, she comes from among the audience, and then He asks the audience: if there is anybody who has not committed a sin, let him throw a stone at her. That is addressed to the society. When the leper comes, He says that it is sin that made him sick. So, when you do a wrong, you may get such diseases. In everything I have, as an artist, tried to give an interpretation which stresses that it is the society whom He is addressing. This is the way I have planned each scene  of the show. I have applied Indian styles to all postures, because He is an Asian.

There were great personali- ties like the late Indian Cardinal Parecattil, who were trying to Indianize Christ. But that Indian- ization has not had many takers. Are you trying to Indianize Christ and His message?

I am trying to do that in the way an artist can do. An artist doesn’t expect radical changes overnight. Art changes people’s thinking gradually. At least now people have started writing in news papers about it. One paper wrote commenting on the stage show,  “the  Son  rises  in  the east” and another wrote there is something called “Asian Bible.” This is a great realization. So, this message has already reached many  minds.  It  will  turn  into strong waves within ten years.

Do you know about the book written by a foreigner which suggests that Christ lived in Kashmir?

Yes, and I have mentioned in the program that for sixteen years He was in the Himalayas, after which He went back. To highlight the influence India had on Him I used some Sanskrit verses also. I am picturising Mother Mary as Mother Earth. She was not conceived from a man; she is Mother Earth. That is why, in the show, when He is crucified, a drop of tear comes out of Mother’s eyes. In Sanskrit we say Bhumi Devi is crying. That’s how we see Mother Mary. She has been Indianised.

Why did you choose the title Ente Rakshakan (My Saviour)?

Because, in the case of Krishna, many gopikas are there and every gopika thinks that Krishna belongs to her. In this case also, everyone in this world thinks that Jesus is for me and only for me. That sort of a feeling is there. It is actually selfishness, but it is there. He knows that my friend also thinks like him, that but that doesn’t matter for him. As long as I believe that He is Saviour for me, I will continue to think so. That is why I titled it ‘My Saviour.’

What message do you wish to give to Indians through this artistic work?

Jesus Christ or Prophet Mo- hammad or Lord Krishna was not born to create a religion; they are born for the entire world, and that is the message I want to give.

In the crucifixion of Jesus, He cries as if His is a tragic end. There is a lot of tragedy in His life. How do you interpret this tragic dimension?

When referring to the tragic dimension of Jesus Christ, I can say any tragedy or anything happening bad in our life is a chance for us to find out the hidden potential in us to fight. Abdul Kalam once said difficulty or misery is an opportunity for us to realize the hidden potential in us to fight. Jesus has obtained that through pain.

You spoke to me as an artist. You said that you are doing art as response to an inner inspiration. After all, religion or spirituality is also listening to the inner inspiration, which is poetics and prophetic life. India speaks about poetics and great poems, but Jewish communities speak of prophets. Have you thought about these poetic as well as prophetic dimensions?

How long can they preach something which is written in the Bible? Even Christ is telling the fishermen why they do not catch the minds of people instead of catching fish. The minds of people can be caught not just by a speech in church or temple or mosque but also by such shows, which can go deep into their minds. There they  are  forced to come on  Sunday or  Friday or Tuesday as per their religion prescribes, but here you are going at your will. That will carry more weight. That is the optimistic thinking of an artist.

Jesus Christ is supposed to be envisaging a humanity, a humanism which is all pervasive and universal. How do you see that universalistic perspective of man in respect of the Gospel of Jesus and His teachings?

In the Gospel He says He doesn’t like festivals of pomp and show. If you can do some- thing useful to the society, do it, and that is a festival. All these colourful pomps and shows, He doesn’t want. Even the Infant Jesus tells us the same thing. whatever I have learned from my class room – engineering or school or pre-degree or what- ever – is much less than what I have learned from the society. My teachers taught from the syllabus of the directorate  of the public instruction or what the government has published, but I have learned from them more of other things which are not there in the printed syllabus. The printed syllabus is only for a degree. What the world teaches you, are the real lessons for your living and for your growth. This is the message of Jesus also. He is clearly telling us to be fishers of men. Instead of catching fish, let us catch the minds of people. This is a great message. Buddha also said the same thing.

When you read the Gospel as an artist, do you find a great artistic mind within Jesus?

A good speaker. Speaking is an art, and He was able  to  win the people to His side through the words He pronounces. That is because He was an artist. I strongly believe that He was a very good artist and a very good speaker. He was a communist. In every sense He was a communist, but He was not a member of the communist party. All the people in the communist party are not communists. They belong to the communist party for power.

What do you mean when you say Jesus was a communist?

A communist is one who wants to bring change through revolution. A  communist  also is one who doesn’t want any position in the society. Also he is the one who lives for others and not for himself.  There  is no real communist in India. Members of the Communist party are not communists. The moment you become a candidate for fighting an election to become a minister or an MLA, you cease to be a communist. I believe in that. I do not know if anybody will ascribe to it. Jesus did not hanker after any position. Any good human being has to be a communist. Any artist has to be a communist, but not a member of the communist party. That is why I am repeatedly saying and underlining it. You need not be a party member to become a communist. If anybody asks me who is revolutionary, I will say Jesus Christ.

Jesus said I and the Father are one. The same thing is said in the Upanishads. This is a kind of spiritual union where I and you are one and I am always living for the other. How do you conjoin that kind of an Indian spirituality with the Gospel of Jesus?

In the upanishads we read ‘aham brahmasmi.’ Jesus is saying  the  same  thing.  Know thyself, you have all power. You can do it. Vivekananda used to say we have to converse with ourselves; otherwise we will miss the company of a good person. The self you speak to is ‘aham brahmasmi’ and also the concept of ‘tatvamasi.’ It is what Jesus also said. There is no difference.  Everybody says the same thing.

By listening to the basic inspiration from within, an art- ist becomes a spiritual person, and in that respect, what is prayer and what is union with God for you?

I have two types of prayers; one is meditation, which I do every day. In that meditation God speaks to me and I listen. In prayer I speak to God and He listens. These two I do every day. In meditation I never ask God for anything, but whatever He says I listen. During meditation, all these inner commands come and I obey them.