Tamil theatre alive, kicking through years

It is sometimes said Tamil theatre is dying. However, as is evident from the number of plays being staged in cities in India as well as abroad, the end has not come about, and it is unlikely to be curtains for Tamil drama. In fact, there is constant innovation in the medium. 

It was in 2012 that Sureshwar and I, along with our team at Maham decided to perform Shakthi, the stage adaptation of the unforgettable Audrey Hepburn-starrer, Wait until Dark. (It had been earlier performed by my father Y Gee Mahendra’s United Amateur Artists, one of the city’s earliest founded drama companies.) Renowned art director Thota Tharani created the sets and Anirudh gave the background score. The play was very well received and turned out to be a hit. 

Shakthi, was my directorial debut and a tribute to my father Y Gee Mahendra and grandfather, YG Parthasarathy who started UAA troupe way back in 1952, almost 64 years ago (probably the longest running troupe in the history of Tamil theatre) to bring in social themes into the field of drama at a time, when mythological plays were more popular. 

When we staged this play in 2012, it literally reinforced the fact that the torch of Tamil theatre will be passed on to the next generation through my theatre Maham. I had to own and take forward the responsibility to spread the rich heritage of the Indian art and Tamil theatre across the world. 

After Shakthi, came about our breezy comedy, Siva Shambo, a very Gen-Y story about two women sharing a room with a man in New York. The main highlight of the 90-minute play was the music, created by veteran music composer MS Viswanathan. The play was directed by Sureshwar and Hari Ramakrishnan budding, young writer penned the script. Needless to say, it was a runaway hit. We did shows across India, USA and Singapore and it was well received across audience. Following Siva Shambo, Perumaale our third play, a comedy genre was launched and it has crossed 100 plus shows, a standing testimony to the growing reach of regional theatre. 

Our new play for 2016, a political satire E.Va.Ka staged for the first time on May 20, 2016, has already crossed 35 shows and is strongly counting with more weekend shows and a repeat audience, with a mix of both, young and old. 

In the past, Tamil theatre reached out to fairly exclusive circles, with audiences consisting mainly of friends, relatives and associates of the Tamil theatre field. But in recent years, there’s been an increase in young audiences attending Tamil plays. We’ve also seen more youths interested in being part of Tamil theatre productions as actors, scriptwriters, or as part of the production crew. As for the audience, there has been a steady growth in younger audience coming to watch Tamil plays, with mature appreciation and constructive criticism, which act as booster shot for our performance and helps us do better each time.

Also, we try to present contemporary themes with young actors donning and experimenting various roles. We always try to ensure the sets are a talking point and a resounding background score, as these factors are a big draw for theatre audiences around the world, in our experience. 

I strongly feel that the use of technology will not only go a long way in attracting the younger generation to Tamil plays but will also add to the experience of the theatre goers in general. That’s exactly what we did when we staged Shakthi for this generation. We used virtual sets through projection of images to present some of the scenes, apart from the revolutionary revolving stage, a first of its kind in Tamil Theatre, created by renowned art director Thota Tharani.

We also leveraged on Skype technology for our overseas artiste rehearsals , so that we could involve and engage the local talents too. A number of NRIs happily don the roles of various characters when we stage plays in US and elsewhere.

During the early days, there were many drama groups. But now, there are fewer players, working towards modernising vernacular theatre. Movies, television and a change in people’s lifestyle have also influenced the trend of stage plays. But the brighter side is there is an influx of newer theatre groups in Chennai like TOM, staging plays that cater to a large audience and diverse age groups, but TOM takes pride in being the only third generation theatre group in today’s Tamil theatre. 

Tamil theatre is being reinvented to cater to the taste of present generation and theatre aficionados. 

The grandeur and sheer largescale of plays by veterans like Nawab TS Rajamanickam Pillai and RS Manohar are legendary in Tamil theatre and many families have their own anecdotes of watching their plays. 

UAA, the oldest among the Tamil theatre group is very active even today. The troupe under Y Gee Mahendra continues to treat the Tamil drama connoisseurs to evergreen plays. UAA has staged some of the greatest plays and produced remarkable artists till date. UAA is acknowledged for introducing colloquial Tamil for the first time on stage, which was considered a sort of revolution in the 1950s’. YGP and Pattu were the first to bring modern social plays to Tamil Nadu and for the first time, they used English dialogues on stage. As a third generation drama troupe, we at Theatre of Maham endeavour to keep the flag flying. 

Yes, like UAA, we too believe that social messages which are serious by nature need to be laced with humour and presented to the audience suitably, so that it interests them and they receive it well. In a way, we ignite minds with a sense of humour! 

Crazy Mohan’s Chocolate Krishna, Google Gadothgachan, S. Ve. Shekher’s evergreen Vaal Paiyan, Magic Lantern Theatre’s adaptation of Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan continue to enthral drama lovers across the world. 

Cinema has enough violence and slapstick comedy. When audiences come to watch plays, they want to have a hearty laugh. That’s what our theatre group aims to provide. English plays are given an elitist tag whereas Tamil dramas are not. This mindset has to change. I am not comparing both, but we have to keep setting high standards for local theatre and exceed those standards ourselves and I am very happy that Theatre of Maham is progressing in the right direction.

Third-gen Tamil theatre artist: 

With many eminent theatre and cinema artistes of yesteryear beginning their illustrious stage and cinema career at UAA, including Cho. Ramaswamy, ARS, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, her mother Sandhya and aunt Vidya, Gemini Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala, Lakshmi, Sivakumar, Jaishankar, Nagesh, Venkat, and Mouli, to name a few, I will be immensely proud if Maham too nurtures and produces artists of such great calibre. As a third generation theatre artist these values come to me by force of habit and I believe that my responsibility continues to increase by the day. 

With a culturally rich family legacy to uphold – With YG Parthasarathy, for my grandfather, Mrs YGP my grandmother and Y Gee Mahendra my father – I am married into an equally illustrious family. My husband Arun is the grandson of Gemini Ganesan and Savithri. I carry my legacy with pride on my shoulders. Unlike many star kids, who detest the idea of being referred to as one, I feel it is something to appreciate and honour. Of course, I believe it comes with a lot of responsibility. 

Yes my rich legacy has helped me in gaining entry and winning exposure, but personally for me, it is very important to continue the good work and sustain the same in the coming years! The spark should never fizzle out.