When Srijith Sundaram wanted to make a short story written by Dalit writer Bama, Molaga Podi, into a play, nobody was impressed with the idea, including the writer. But, after the play was first staged by his Kattiyakkaari troupe here, a couple of months ago, Bama acknowledged the crew by saying that it couldn’t have been portayed in a better way. Now, Kattiyakkaari has been travelling across Tamil Nadu and abroad too to stage Molaga Podi. “Next, we are staging the play in Chengalpat, where an NGO will honour Bama,” says Srijith. The troupe has just returned from Hyderabad after participating in the sixth annual Abinaya Theatre Fest. “After Piralayan’s Pounu Kunju, Molaga Podi is the second Tamil play that has been selected for the fest. Not just that, I have also been asked to direct it in Telugu,” adds Srijith.The play revolves around two women, Pachaiyamma and Gangamma, the former a dalit and the latter, a so-called privileged class. What is special about the play is that there are no scenes where the former lament about their being. “I don’t think one should always choose the sober medium to portray the suppressed. Well, fighting for the right is idea of the story as well,” says Srijith. The troupe Kattiyakkaari itself seems to be unconventional and contemporary as transgenders, sex workers, journalists and IT professionals too form a part of it. “I’ve worked with almost every minority community and my friends from each segment have been part of this play,” says Srijith and adds, “People have asked me if I’m a gay or a transgender.” However, Srijith says that even if it hurts to think of the problems that transgenders face, one should remember the veteren theatre person Inculab’s words, ‘No matter how weak your voice is, you have to speak up.’ Kattiyakri is now preparing for the annual koothu festival to be held at Purasai, a village between Seyyar and Kanchipuram, in memory of the ace Koothu exponent, Kannapathambiran. Interestingly enough, his grand daughter Ashwini Kasi is also one of the artistes in the troupe. “She always wanted to act, but I’ve given her the responsibility of lights and now she has graduated to the expert level,” laughs Srijith, as she is sitting next to him. “Not just Ashwini even Living Smile Vidya, Jeeva Raghunath and other seniors considered this as their project and worked for me,” says Srijith. Now Kattiyakkaari has plans to include another play, Annachi, again a short story by Bama to stage along with Molaga Podi. “As we have been asked to stage the play in different colleges across the state, we don’t want to end our show with just one play. And Annachi is a must-do story, as well,” says Srijith. A viscom graduate, Srijith is also an ad film maker and a cinematographer. He has also prepared the script for his first movie. “I took eight years to direct a play, and so, the movie will take time too,” he says. Theatre happened to him with Marappachi, a theatre run by A Mangai, a writer and a theatre person. “Mangai supported during Molaga Podi, when everybody was negative,” says Srijith.
Comments
0 comment