She was the Shoorpanakha, an asura (demon) and sister of the 10-headed demon, Ravana in the critically acclaimed play titled Thus Spake Shoorpanakha, So Said Shakuni. She is also a modern-day woman who believes in women empowerment and is the founder of the recently concluded Women of India Leadership Summit. Divya Chandra, a theatre actor, director of BooGio 11 Productions and a playwright is a multifaceted personality. “I consider myself an agent of change. I believe in co-creating performances, events and facilitating workshops as avenues for like-minded people to explore and redefine ‘performance’ art as a movement for self-discovery and empowerment. I have been an actor for the past 15 years and have been directing too. I also teach at workshops to help people tap more into their creativity and explore their hidden potentials,” says Divya.
Started by Divya, The Women of India Leadership Summit is India’s first and only annual conference to empower women by including sessions for men and women to work together, and it offers tools on a myriad of subjects like money management, legal rights, intimacy, communication, body image, safety and security. “The summit was incubated as a reaction to the nationwide protests against the lack of safety and power that Indian women endure on a daily basis, which led to the brutal gang rape and subsequent death of a young medical student in the capital in December of 2012. The mission of the summit is to change the power dynamics that Indian women suffer by educating them about their rights, providing them with information and tools to cement their financial position and creating safety and security,” she adds.
Divya, who is also the director of BooGio11 Productions, a platform that provides opportunities for artistes to collaborate on creating work that’s transformative and entertaining, shares, “At BooGio11 Productions, we do a variety of activities — plays, movies, documentaries, events and workshops to hone acting skills of those who are passionate about theatre. We work with the motto ‘creating value rather than presenting populist works’.”
Having being trained under veteran theatre director Barry John, Divya has worked with several national and international directors. She is best known in the theatre circles for her powerful role in Thus Spake Shoorpanakha, So Said Shakuni that turns the spotlight on two marginalised characters from Indian mythology and is presented as much as theatre as a performance art. In a play dotted with monologues, Shoorpanakha wonders if Rama was justified in chopping off her nose because she was attracted to him, which is well represented by Divya on stage. “Telling her side of the story changed my view on Indian mythology and the role of women in it,” says Divya, who also impressed the viewers with her performance in the brief history of Pantomimes.
She has also worked on numerous animation and voice modulation projects, extending her presence in the Indian voice-narrative field. She has been the voice of Rajasthan’s chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia on popular political satire shows including Double Take and Gustakhi Maaf on a popular news channel for over five years. “One of my quirks as an actor is an ability to do various accents particularly the British RP and general Americana. The producers of the show actually called me for Aishwarya Rai’s voice as they were having a hard time finding someone to imitate her because of her peculiar mix of a half-American and half-English accent. Once they heard my voice, and made me do a few takes with Mrs Scindia’s voice, they found it to be a perfect match,” says Divya, who is also a trained Hindustani classical singer.
She is also a yoga practitioner, trained in martial arts — Tai-chi, boxing and Japanese Jiu Jitsu. “I have constantly believed in empowering my physical self. As an actor, everything that encompasses you — intellect, experiences and history is within you. In theatre, the body becomes an instrument to express, defy, illuminate and engage the audience with. It is such an important part of your skill set and it requires being in good shape. On my bad days, to de-stress I go back to the dance movement therapy that helps me reconnect with my body,” adds Divya.
She has also written short stories, plays, monologues, poetry and has contributed articles on diverse topic. “From science to metaphysics and from authors like Gregg Bradden and Dev Dutt Patnaik to Stephen King, I have a fetish for books. My teenage secret fantasy was and still remains to shoplift a giant book store,” quips the fiery actor.
