Multiple Personality Order ft Mantra Mugdh

"Every Christmas they needed a Santa Claus. Guess who they picked? On Children's Day I used to dress up like a cartoon character. Because I loved to sing and dance and entertain people." Mantra Mugdh, the man of many lives, shares his experiences on several of them.

Let’s start with your radio journey. How did it start?

It's funny… I was a hotelier before this began. I had no intention of doing any radio because there was no radio back then. I mean there were no private FM no radio stations and all that.

There was only All India Radio ... And not many people listened to that because there were few radios in cars.

It was the time of cassette players and if anyone listened to radio it was only on those big transistors that people kept in their paan shops.

Anyway, I was working at the Taj Residency in Indore, in the front office and - apart from the daily duties like greeting guests, checking them in, checking them out - some guests would request wake up calls.

Was this the life-changing wake up call?

One morning, as my night shift was ending, I think it was 6 o'clock… And I was making my round of wake-up calls… Standard lines which I used to recite to every guest.

One of those guests picked up the phone, listened to my standard wake-up message and he said “You know what? You need to be on radio.”

And I was like what are you talking about? Who are you? What is happening? I thought I woke him up an hour early or something. But he said “What's your name, and will you be on duty when I come down for breakfast at 8.30?”. I said “Yes sir”.

And for the next two hours I was s**tting bricks because I didn't know what was happening. And at 8.30 this league of extraordinary gentlemen came to the reception, asked for me and said “We are from the Times of India group. Mr. Vineet Jain, Mr. AP Parigi, Mr. Sunil Sahjwani, Mr. Gaurav Sharma and we are here, in Indore, to do a recce on setting up a new kind of radio station called FM. And we think you are a very talented boy. Would you like to try it out?”

And I said, “Will you pay me?”

That’s how I became the first ever private FM jock of the country.

You are the first ever private FM jock of the country?

Oct 4, 2001. Launch of Radio Mirchi.

Well, Radio Mirchi was the first ever. This is 2001. Before that there was Times Now. Sorry, Times FM. But they used to buy slots on All India Radio, like a rental. But they weren’t a station. The first private FM station was Radio Mirchi Indore.

Radio City in Bangalore happened nearly simultaneously, with Darius Sunawala (whom I give a lot of respect to, for what he has done for the industry), but I think we were the first, maybe by a few weeks.

But anybody who knows you knows you were born to do perform. Radio, stage, film, whatever.

Yeah bro. In the hotel industry or even before in school it was all theatre, all stage. I joined the hotel industry at a very young age, I was in school and working simultaneously because of family conditions.

And in the hotel, every Christmas they needed a Santa Claus. Guess who they picked?

On Children's Day I used to dress up like a cartoon character. Because I loved to sing and dance and entertain people, Polly was the first choice.

I used to impersonate all my managers and some guests and that’s how I picked up accents from all around the world.

Forget hotel lobbies, I have dressed as Santa Claus at petrol pumps, get paid 50 bucks a day.

People call it struggle. I call it performing arts.

Did you say ‘Polly was the first choice’? Were you called Polly?

Hahahahahahaha! You caught that.

I am 43 now.

Today if anybody says Mantra, I know it’s somebody from my industry or a fan.

If anybody says ‘Puranjeet’ (which is my official name), I know it’s either the cops, the IT Department or my school teachers.

But if somebody calls me ‘Polly’, I know it’s a really close friend.

Polly happened because of Puranjeet. One day one of my Marathi-speaking friends went “Hey Puranjeet, Puran-Poli” And that stuck.

Also, I used to bowl like Sean Pollock and Sean Pollock's nickname was Polly.

And I used to yak like Polly the Parrot. So that's why another Polly.

Fantastic! You said you were acting in school. Do you remember your first play?

Of course. The first is always special. The Canterville Ghost which is an Oscar Wilde story. There was a Bollywood adaptation also - Bhoothnath.

It’s about a family with two kids who move to a new house, and there is an old ghost of the house. And the ghost tries to scare off the family but these bachchas are so harami that it's the ghost who is gets scared. And of course, I was the ghost.

What was the make-up like?

It's a heart-wrenching story bro. Where are you taking me?

I rehearsed a whole f**king two months, really worked by ass off. Two days before the show they turn around and say you'll be wearing a mask. I said it's fine, I'll wear a mask. But then they said that after wearing the mask, we won’t be able to hear you properly.

So, somebody will be dubbing for you. There will be an actor sitting in front of you, you move your hands and he will do the voice.

So two months of rehearsal, went for a toss.

But on the bright side, guess where I my interest in mime started?

 

And you also said you used to bowl like Sean Pollock. Were you always into sports?

King of the Swing

Big time, big time. I used to eat, sleep, breathe cricket, it was all that I wanted to do.

When I was sleeping, I would only think of an in-swinging yorker. Or a toe-crunching Yorker.

And I played. I played for my school. I played for my state. And I was very good; I was bowling at a very good speed.

My coach knew that I was special. Everybody knew I was special. I had a very good season in 97. I picked up some 19 wickets. And I got selected for a camp where if I had done well, I would have played for Ranji.

And this was the same era as Mohd. Kaif Mahendra Singh Dhoni all of them; the same batch.

But Taj happened. The Taj is... The best part about being in Taj is they give you a diploma when you're working over there. It's a diploma course called the Apprenticeship Course.

And how I got in was… I can say it today because now they’re all friends. But I didn’t submit my graduation papers, I didn’t have graduation papers because I was still in school.

And while I was at the Taj, I finished school and did a B.Com. correspondence course. So, I never actually saw college life.

Taj was my college. I was doing occupancy revenue reports, balance sheets, ledgers. Before I knew what economics or commerce was.

And I didn’t do well in my B.Com. But I was Employee of the Month at Taj. Strange how things work out.

 

As a college drop-out, I fully relate to this. But back to cricket…?

Hanh so I was selected for this Cricket camp in Gujarat. But it was either work or either play. I still remember going up to my boss and saying I've got this amazing opportunity and I'd like to have a two-month leave.

And even though they talk about the understanding, courteous people of the hotel industry, they are like army men, they are no-nonsense. They said that if I wanted to play cricket, I’ve got to resign.

I said “Sir, no. I can't. I need to work; I need this job.”

I went to my coach, and he said “Are you crazy? People will die for this opportunity. You're about to play for the state. You will be selected for Ranji if you do well. Which you will.”

I said “Sir I can't do anything.”

So, my coach came to the hotel to talk to my manager! And he was stopped at the porch because he was wearing slippers.

My manager was at the reception and he said he would talk to my coach on the phone. He called the porch guard, told him to give the phone to my coach. They could see each other from 100 feet away. But through a glass door.

Anyway, my coach said something. My manager said something. I could not hear either.

All I saw was my coach put down the phone, looked at me, turned around, walked away and that was the end of my cricketing career.

Learning all about economics!

 

F**k! How did that feel? You were a young boy, it must have been crushing…

This was 1998. So, I was 16/17. I was upset for sure.

But I was much more positive back in those days, man. These days, something doesn’t pan out the way you want - a play doesn't work, a film doesn't do well, you don't get a role… It hurts more.

In those days, it didn't used to hurt this much. I think it was so good to be back at that time of your life when you're like “F**k it, let’s move on.”

Also, I didn’t know what a big opportunity I missed because cricket wasn't big back then.

There was no IPL, no endless tournaments. You know that think parents say to their kids even today, na? “In a population of 1.4 billion, they choose 11 people. You think you're going to be one of them?”

Today at least kids can turn around and say in IPL today, 640 people play. They play for Ranji, they play here, there, they play County Cricket.

In 1998 there were no options. So, it wasn't a big deal.

Right, so when did you move out of Indore?

Soon after. I came first to Bombay. And it was strange that I could not tolerate Bombay at that point of time, because the city was too fast for me.

I was from a small town called Indore; the humidity got to me, the temperature, the weather, the traffic. The food didn’t work for me, I was perspiring like a f**king pig. I lost around 4-5 kgs in a few weeks.

So I went back to Indore, and I decided that I'll go to Bombay one day, but for that I need to prepare myself.

I went to Delhi and that's when life hit me because nobody knew me in Delhi. I was walking into radio stations like RJ Mantra, and people were like who is this Mantra, where is he from? I had forgotten that radio was a local medium and nobody outside Indore would have ever heard me.

Slowly I figured my way through. I got a job at Radio City. And 2003 to 2006, I grew up in Delhi. Delhi trained me how to deal with a big city.

And when I thought that I was ready for Mumbai in 2006 is when I finally took the plunge. I left Radio City Delhi and joined Red FM Mumbai.

But radio was always the constant because radio was like my backbone.

What is your fascination with radio?

Radio was a very popular medium then; unfortunately, it's not the same anymore. But those were its golden days.

And us radio jockeys were the original influencers, content creators and everything you see today on Instagram.

There was no Instagram back then.

There was no Spotify back then.

I was the playlist.

People used to listen to what I used to listen to.

We got the city together. We got the country together. I remember radio being so powerful at some of the toughest times for India - 26/11, the floods in Mumbai, he earthquakes and everything.

Radio always kept us going. And radio was the job.

I was RJ Mantra, bro. That’s who I’d become.

How did you choose the name? Mantra?

Mantra comes from my sanyas naam, which is Mantra Mugdh. I don't know where you want to go with this. See, I’ve led multiple lives in one life. I'm an Osho Sanyasi.

This name was given to me when I visited the Osho Ashram in Jabalpur. I attended a camp. I didn't know what was taking sanyas meant, I just liked that mala.

But I did. And they gave me the name Mantra Mugdh. They thought Mantra Mugdh is who I am. Swami Mantra Mugdh.

When radio happened and I went on air... I said, RJ Puranjeet sounds like someone's come to read news on All India Radio. And Polly didn’t work either.

So, I said I have another name - Mantra Mugdh. And my boss, Viplove Gupte turned around and said “One second. Remove Mugdh. Mantra sounds very cool.” And that was that.

 

And do you still hold a relationship with Osho? Are you still attached?

Of course! He talks to me every day, even today. It seems like every time I open Instagram, some of his reels just randomly pop up and they’re talking to me about what I'm thinking that day. Or maybe I'm just in love with him.

I also did a lot of work for/about him. I did a film called Rebellious Flower, which was based on Osho's early life. I'm doing Rebellious Flower Part 2 next year.

He’s a very fascinating character, a very fascinating human being

Absolutely no religion, no puja, just a celebration. For the rest of the world, it is A Wild, Wild Country - a sexual orgy. But it's not that at all. I’ve spent a lot of time at Osho Ashrams and I can tell you it’s an individual connect with Osho rather than an ideological following.

Okay, we’ll have the rest of this absolutely fascinating conversation later. For now, let’s move to theatre. Your most memorable play/performance?

A still from a show of Piya Behrupiya

Piya Behrupiya, bro. No matter how big Aladdin becomes, Piya Behrupiya with those 13 people on stage and the harmonium and peti was mammoth compared to any large-scale show I've ever seen. I've never seen the kind of response which I've seen for Piya Behrupiya.

It's like Sachin Tendulkar batting, man. After a point of time, even if he's not connecting, people are still screaming.

And I don't know why that play turned out to be what it turned out to be. Me, as an audience, I wouldn't have turned around and said that, wow, what a piece of art.

But it worked. And how.

We opened at the Globe Theatre. At the 37th Shakespeare Festival where 37 Shakespeare plays performed in 37 different languages from 37 different countries. My God.

This was the Shakespeare Olympics. And we were representing India.

Unforgettable feeling. Unbeatable feeling.

Do you have a memory of that tour? You travelled the world with that play.

I'll tell you this one. This is a fun one. We were performing in Nicè, France. Imagine, Bundeli in Nicè.

And while on tour in different countries, I’m not one to eat roti and dal. I wanted to sample all the local food, the drink, the specialties of that region.

But in Nice, I guess I got a little homesick. And I was craving a mutton biryani.

I had seen this one Indian restaurant on the way to the venue. I said I'll come here at night and eat biryani.

Our play closes at 9.30 and at 10, all the restaurants shut down. So, I disappeared after the curtain call and literally ran to Maharaja, the restaurant. Parcelled one mutton biryani, because bro, I have to sit on the beach and have a drink.

And at the beach, while downing one quarter, while walking home, I could feel this bag of hot mutton biryani.

Now, we were staying in small French cottage rooms. Even when you were sitting on the pot, you had to bend or you could have banged your head on the wall. And the walls are very thin.

Sujay Saple was my roommate but he’s not in the room, he must have been sitting with the rest of them.

I come into my room, one of my friends happened to call me from India on my mobile and I’m talking to them while opening the parcel, telling them I’m going to eat biryani today and how much I’m craving that mutton.

I opened the biryani. It smelled wonderful. I took the spoon and I looked for the mutton.

There was no mutton!

It was a veg biryani!

And I was on phone, right? And a bit drunk…So I’m screaming “What the F**k! WHAT THE F**K! I’m going to kill that guy!” And this went on for a few mins.

And I hear a knock on the door. Sujay Saple is standing there, almost scared. “Mantra, you okay, bro?”

“Yeah. Yeah, Sujay, what happened?”

“You might want to take a look outside the window.”

“Outside the window? What’s going on?”

I lift the shutter, bro. There was a crowd! A whole crowd had gathered and they were all very worried because those thin walls could not contain my voice; I've been told that I was heard three lanes away.

As embarrassing as it was, it became a talking subject in Nicè and people teased me for days – asking whether I had had my fill of mutton biryani yet.

Okay let's come to Akvarious for a little bit. How did you meet them?

I’ve always liked their work, even before I knew them. I watched Bombed many years ago, didn’t realise it was theirs till much later. I really enjoyed it. I met Akarsh when I went to watch his play that our mutual friend Rohini Ramanathan was acting in. I wouldn't call it love at first sight, but we 'connected' and that was the beginning of a friendship that grows with each passing day. He is one of the finest human beings I know.

My first project with them wasn’t theatre. We did a web series called Boygiri. And that's how we bonded. That's where we met. Then we also did a film together called High Jack.

And I love what Akvarious does. And it is not because they’re friends. I say this many times and I say this aloud. They bring the word ‘play’ alive in a play. Working with Akvarious has been among the most satisfying experiences for me in my acting career. It is amazing and overwhelming at times to be part of that group. I'm glad that this group, this family exists.

Mantra and Adhaar Khurana in a still from This Time

What is this new play about that opened at the Prithvi Festival? The Perfect Time to Panic ? Because you're dressed like Jesus, I saw some photographs.

Akarsh has been working on it for three years. He’s always wanted to do a musical.

And this is a story about a whistleblower, a scientist, who is trying to tell people, the authorities, the United Nations, that if we don't do something soon, this world will be unliveable. And about how the powers that be try to hold him down.

So he moves to an island with his daughter and his team. And when the entire world realises he’s their hope and comes to him for help, he becomes a sort of Noah.

And I play that character, Parth, like the guy in There’s Something in the Water. You’ll find some eerie similarities; Akarsh loves callbacks.

It’s a fabulous team, bro. Lisa [Mishra] is an awesome singer! We have some beautiful duets.

Taaruk Raina, my Aladdin. He's so good. 

Garima Yajnik is an absolute revelation, she is getting finer and finer with every production. Watch out for her, she is meant to be a star.

Abhinav Sharma is fabulous and brings in such fresh energy. It is so wonderful how Akarsh relies on young talent.

Petra [Misquitta] is training us in music. It’s been the best experience training under her. And I've got some wonderful songs lined up in this play.

If you had to choose between singing, dancing or acting, which would you choose?

Thank God hosting Kabaddi doesn't need me to dance.

Acting, of course. No doubt, hands down. Acting comes the most naturally to me. Singing comes next.

Dancing for me is an acquired art. I really have to put in an effort to do my one, two, three, four. When they saw me dance and sing for the first time for Aladdin, they said, “Mar gaye. This guy's got two left feet.” And I said, I've got three, but you can't see the third one.

But I keep working, keep working, repeating it, repeating it, really mark it out like mathematics until it becomes a reality. And then I make it look seamless as if “This boy can do it. He can do it in his sleep.”

How are you so nice? I genuinely want to know. How are you so motivated? How are you so positive? So excited?

I think it's all about perspective. I do have the choice of looking at the dirt and the muck. But at the end of the day, life is a celebration.

I want to look up at the redness of that flower. I want to see that red. I want to take in that fragrance. Thorns are there and they have their place and functions to protect the flower. But I’m selfish. I want the flower. I choose the flower.

I think it has a lot to do with Osho Rajneesh. Growing up in my household was not as ideal as you would like to believe. This kind of a boy would not have turned out from that. I think it's - almost in my way - it's a rebellion.

A rebellion of what I have gone through and sometimes still go through from, from that side. So as part of that rebellion, I actively reject all of the thorns and I will be this person. It’s a choice, I make it almost daily. And I’m grateful.

So I want to dwell a little bit on your entrepreneurship. You are clearly a self-made person. Is there any advice that you would give to anyone starting out, whether it’s hosting or acting or starting a venture like MnM Talkies?

At this point of time, the sustainability of an idea is not as long as it used to be earlier. The way you used to plan a business or a career at one point used to be like test cricket.

The kind of funding, the ideation, simmering it on a slow heat, turning it into a habit, then turning it into a demand, then creating the supply. Today's DNA doesn't work that way. Today is not even 20-20. Today it's Super Sixers, bro. It's a 6-over match.

If you want, compare it to the stock market, it's almost like long-game stocks and the quick buck.

So, which one are you going for? If you're going in for the long run, do not apply the short run rule. In short, do not play test cricket like T20 and do not play T20 like test cricket.

Apply it in business, whether you’re starting a restaurant, or becoming an artist, or just doing one project like an audio drama.

Audio drama was big 2-3 years back. It was doing very well. Now, people have moved on to micro drama. You need to be strong enough and quick enough to be able to adapt to the market.

I think there is a fundamental issue when it comes to artists and business. Business is often about finding answers, the quickest solution, the easiest way forward. And arts is about explore and explore and explore and search and search and search. The difference in that mindset can cause some problems.

But at the end of the day, cricket will not change. You have to play with the bat. You should know how to hold the bat.

 

And final question, what is your wish for Akvarious for the next 25 years?

More and more success! May Akvarious flourish and through Akvarious may the fraternity flourish because Akvarious is a giver, they are an institution and I wish them all the very best. Long live Akvarious!

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