A drama at last, this time real one

I went to a drama “Ethu Nizhal, Ethu Nijam” on a Friday evening, 11^th August at Mylapore Fine Arts. I enjoyed the play, my first in four decades!

            Before that let me digress briefly: my knees are improving with Dr. Ramnarayan’s prescription and it gives me confidence that I can go through life without TKR (Total Knee Replacement). Suloch, my neighbour, was here for an annual monthly vacation from his work in Africa and that got me a lot of positive energy especially in these times when this building M90 is being used as a private property by the unscrupulous SYNAPSE clinic people. I even went to the extent of selling this damn flat if it fetches a good price; but then I will never have the strength of mind to carry it through – who in their right mind would walk away from Besant Nagar?

            Now back to the play.

            T H Iyer mama suggested that I write to Bombay Chanakya, a famous playwright and close associate of K Balachander. I wanted an opinion on whether “Ex-PW club” will make a good movie script. I am a creative writer, plain and simple. I have never fancied myself as a scriptwriter for movies.  But this “ex-PW club” feels a good movie script that tumbled out accidentally. And it fetches me some money in these lean days of poor earnings then it is just what the doctor (rather than banker) ordered. I wrote to Mr. Bombay Chanakya who said: I have a play coming up and you are invited.

            I dressed myself for the occasion. I started at 5:30 in a 29C and got off at Luz. I went past Devaki Hospital (they have changed the name to Meenakshi or something) searching for Mylapore Fine Arts. It was beginning to rain sharply and I had my brolly up. Someone directed me to take the private lane to Isabella and lo, I found, Mylapore Fine Arts on Musiri Subramaniam Road.

            I was drenched despite the UAE snazzy umbrella (it opens like a fired bullet shot) and walked into an almost empty AC hall. The crowd slowly built up to a over a hundred; this is the best place to see tambrahms from higher income group whose natural moorings are Carnatic concerts, Bharatanatyam dance, and Tamil dramas.

            I took a seat in the second row for one of the best seats in the house. They ring the buzzer thrice in short intervals as a precursor to the opening. I love that tradition as it gets the audience to straighten up and take a break from gossip.

             “Ethu Nizhal, Ethu Nijam” means “what is shadow and what is real?” This is a story of a struggling Carnatic singer having to cope with a useless and headstrong husband who only gives her mental tortures with constant barbs. Gurumurthy, essayed by Bombay Kumar, was outstanding as a cruel and insensitive husband. Charu, his wife, aspires to be Carnatic singer having to cope with an always annoying Gurumurthy as she supports the family through giving private tuitions and singing light music. To an already burdened Charu, enters her now divorced sister-in-law from Jamshedpur to their modest home in Mylapore. Both Kavitha Suresh as Charu and Jayashree Pritam as the scheming sister-in-law were mind-blowing in their roles. I loved the homour spun around Manargudi – Sashikala’s place. Both the accompanists, Srini and Pattabhi, were competent in supporting roles. The creative genius of Bombay Chanakya – writer and director – was in making Pattabi speak in a high pitched falsetto for a screeching female voice! Each time he opened his mouth the fun was instantaneous.

            This was a script for two hours with breaks for changing the sets. What I discovered in the hour hours; from 7:00 to 9:00pm, was that a play is the best avenue to discover the power of the language. These stage artists spoke in a rich Brahmanical dialect; I loved the idioms that have disappeared from everyday vocabulary. A play exaggerates oddities; a play is always loud, a play is live and spontaneous and it is here the Tamil language comes aloud strong and vibrant. Definitely not in the newsroom where it is formal and stiff or in the movie screens.

            This is a labour of love of Bombay Chanakya and team. The production value itself would be more than 1 lac with sound effects and stage fabrications. The gate collection would have been less than a tenth of it. The artists perform out of sheer passion.

            The last play I saw was in my school days during Ramanavami celebrations in Keys High School in Secunderabad. Those annual Manohar productions were world class in production values. I still remember the play on Vishwamithra with those grandeur sets and lightning and thunder scenes.  Now after more than 3 decades, this play by Bombay Chanakya whetted my appetite for more. I have been to Carnatic concerts, I am a great admirer of Vishaka Hari and now what remain to be explored are dance performances and more dramas.

            Any day between a drama and a Rajnikanth movie; I will choose the former. There is something old and honest about dramas. It is like revisiting an old world; a time-wrap to the parents and grandparents generation when life was lot simple and plenty of caricatures around. Now it is only whatsup and dumb assholes in the digital age for a  frightening level of homogeneity.