By Siddhi Jain

New Delhi, May 2 (IANSlife): Actor, storyteller and theatre director Danish Hussain said that theatre gives you the discipline to be true to a character for long hours on stage.

Hussain acts in Zee Theatre's 'Aaj Rang Hai', which also stars Sarika Singh, Prerna Chawla, Nishi Doshi, Purva Naresh, Pawan Uttam, Imran Rasheed and Hidayat Sami.

"So, unlike cinema, where you have to be a character for like two or three minutes at a time during a shot before the director says 'cut,' here you live a character's journey from beginning to end. You can do it only if you inculcate the discipline to play a character and remain in his skin on stage for over 90 minutes or even two hours," he told IANSlife.

Hussain was also involved in revival of the art of Urdu storytelling, Dastangoi.

"You achieve this discipline through unwavering focus, through long rehearsals and so yes, it is great for an actor's training. For this reason, I think theatre should be an essential part of any actor's repertoire," he concluded.