Today we’d like to introduce you to Manahar Kumar.
Manahar, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Throughout my childhood and college years, I have been drawn to two related art forms—theater and film—both of which seek to move, provoke, or entertain people by means of a story told in dramatic form, albeit in very different ways.
My deep-seated involvement with theater started when I was a child in school and I participated in a performance of Peter Pan. Although I didn’t get to perform on stage, I remember being fascinated by the actors — their tiny variations in dialogue delivery, their larger than life performances, and their ability to inhabit the skin of different characters.
Five years later, I played the role of Shenzi (one of the hyenas) in a performance of The Lion King, a role that gave me the confidence to recognize and pursue my passion.
Born and brought up around professional English Theatre in Chandigarh, North India, and pursuing my undergraduate degree in Manipal, South India, my world-view expanded, after observing many kinds of India in one India. Being part of classics like The Mousetrap, Mother’s Day, The Night of January 16 and 12 Angry Jurors I learned, grew and fell in love with performing arts.
In Manipal, I co-founded a production house by the name of “UnTied Laces”. This was followed by various different projects, across different genres, where I contributed as writer, cinematographer, director, editor and actor including a music video in collaboration with the non-profit, Men Against Rape and Discrimination (MARD) that sought to inspire and mobilize more men to stand up against everyday sexual violence in urban India.
In January 2016, we helped create a forum for talented artists to express themselves—through stand-up comedy, slam poetry, improvisation, short plays, short films, acoustic sessions, or as a live band by envisioning an event called “Baba Nights.”
What really draws me to filmmaking and writing is the desire to move, amuse and entertain audiences by telling stories through one of the post powerful media we have—films. It is also the opportunity to shine a light of awareness, empathy, compassion, and, above all, justice, on the many social and ideological evils that lurk hidden in the shadows of the public discourse around him, be it gendered violence, a benevolent patriarchy, or exploitation by class and caste.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Currently, I’m pursuing my MFA in Film & TV from Savannah College of Art & Design in Atlanta, Georgia. I started the course in Fall, 2017 and plan to graduate in Summer 2020.
The struggles, in brief, have involved being 10,000 miles away from home, my family being my biggest support and always having my back – is something that I miss everyday.
“There is a very thin line between being lonely and being alone.” a friend of mine told me this in Dec 2017. It’s been a continuously evolving journey trying to find my purest form of self as an artist and a human being.
I was in Atlanta when my grandfather passed away back in India in January 2018, exactly a day after his 53rd wedding anniversary. This combined with past childhood trauma’s led me to a pit called – depression. The only thing that kept me alive was films and especially, acting.
Acting to me is like breathing to me – if I haven’t acted in a while or performed a slam poem – I feel like I’m not able to breathe properly. It is that important and necessary in my life.
Till date, I don’t know how this extremely shy and introverted boy, can convert himself on stage and express emotions and I could never imagine myself expressing. Being in films is something that I feel people can’t just like and pursue, one has to be engulfed and completely head over heels about the movies in order to be a storyteller for all time’s and ages.
The above struggles have made me the boy-man I’ve become today, yet I know the show always goes on and I feel – I don’t know how or why – but I feel this intensely that a new magnum opus is on the horizon.
Please tell us about Manahar Kumar.
UnTied Laces –
https://www.facebook.com/untiedlaces/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1utyaNvaAmDUGTRUDXOfrQ
Before joining SCAD, Atlanta I had made a short documentary called “Kya Dekh Raha Hai?” (What are you looking at?) that won the Student Emmy Award in Summer 2018.
I am an actor first, who’s growing and honing his skills as a Director. Overall, I love the stage the most, as it has a magical quality to it, transforming both the performer’s life as well as the viewers. The energy is alive and moving from one corner of the room to another.
At the end of the day, I would like to tell stories that help inspire, entertain and spread joy among people’s mundane lives – be it through live performances on stage or the audio-visual medium, films.
As an Actor –
BEGINNING
CHARMING
Contact Info:
- Phone: (404) 819-7690
- Email: kumarmanahar@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kumarmanahar
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