"Sometimes I designed costumes, other times the stage. Anandji and I continued to be close up to his last breath. His passing created a vacuum in the cultural life of the capital."
“Though theatre was so different from his actual profession, I found him very professional as a theatre director. He was so passionately involved in it. Always well-dressed, cool and calm, ever smiling … That was RG Anand. I used to watch him very closely, and learnt much from him about life.”
“It was RG Anand who wrote and staged socially relevant plays in Hindi, at least one new play every year. Being an architect he would have very neat, realistic sets … RG always had a good set of actors in his productions … His contribution to Delhi theatre is very significant. It is so sad that today’s generation knows nothing about those plays.”
“RG Anand has deservedly become Delhi’s most popular playwright. His Darbar-e-Akbari drew packed houses throughout its one-week run. Anand always has a message – this time the eclectic faith of Akbar to preach secularism to the present generation. It was a splendid idea from which emerged a beautifully worded play with the usual witticisms which are Anand’s forte.”
"Punjabi poetry has its own style and grace and compares favourably with the best in other languages. A large number of poems and songs have been published in Punjabi but the films, the stage and mushairas in Punjab have rarely been a success. Sassi Punnu, however, is a brilliant exception and can be said to have created a new landmark in the history of Punjabi poetry and culture. I congratulate Mr RG Anand for instilling poetry and beauty into a language commonly thought to be bereft of the finer nuances of human feelings.”
“If there is one thing that these amateur companies have achieved is that houses are easily filled now. The New Delhi public has developed a taste for flesh-and-blood stage shows, and this is in no small measure due to RG’s plays.”
RG’s daughter Priyamvada Kapur reminiscences: ‘At around five, after work, people would start trickling in and rehearsals would begin. It was one big mela every evening! On days before the actual show, rehearsals would go on all day, with lunch being served in the garden. So much hustle and bustle, actors fluffing their lines and everyone bursting out in laughter… It was such fun for us kids to watch! Passersby often stopped to watch as well, and they were served tea and snacks too.’ She recalls her mother Romeshlatta being very supportive of father’s passion, uncomplainingly taking care of things that needed to be done.
‘Only occasionally would she mildly voice objections to the money being spent on the endless rounds of tea!’
“A sincere and competent dramatic craftsman with the ability to ‘produce Hindustani plays of more lasting importance. He certainly has the first requisite, dramatic feeling and spontaneity in composition.”
"Mr Anand….. with an extraordinary vitality, a determination to keep action going at a realistic pace and a sense of drama so spontaneous and native to him that one knows … his plays will not droop from dullness."
“Mr Anand has proved himself to be the most original of Hindi playwrights of Delhi.”
‘Uncanny perception in interpreting a story and … profound awareness of the nuances of play staging. A tenacious dramatist, he was always seeking ways of pressing his plays more intimately and vividly into the hearts and minds of his audiences, forcing them to carry away something vital and moving while leaving the theatre.’