King of a thousand gags

Comedy is serious business, he says with a straight face. S. Ve. Shekher knows his business. This `comedy king' is completing 25 years on stage, and on the eve of his 4001st show, is very serious about making his plays more humorous than before, to bring in the audiences. The stage has to do better than TV, he tells K. Ramachandran.

S. Ve. SHEKHER'S `Natakhapriya' will step into its 26th year this month-end with a sense of satisfaction. On the memorable occasion, the troupe is organising in Chennai a drama series culminating with its 4001st performance on the New Year day. On show will be the latest political spoof `Periyappa'.

``In 25 years we have gone on stage 4000 times, equal to nearly 11 years' time, with 22 plays. For the 3000th show in 1992, we had Ms. Jayalalitha. For the 3500th show, we had Mr. M. Karunanidhi and Mr. Moopanar. All of them will be characters in Periyappa,'' the veteran humourist says.

Does he want to look back or speculate about the future?

``We emerged at a time when Chennai had 150 sabhas and 100 troupes led by giants like Cho, R. S. Manohar, Mouli, YGP, Manorama and Surulirajan. I wanted to be different, so I chose comedy as my line. Our plays are often criticised as ``a garland of jokes'. I will give 100 jokes.

Can someone make a play out of it?'' he challenges. ``We do create a story knot, a story line, scene order and dialogue with jokes. That's how we prioritize.''

Tamil stage is unlike Marathi or Bengali theatre where films are fewer. To lure people to watching comedy plays here is difficult. Still, audiences pay Rs. 60 to Rs. 600 a show to watch Natakhapriya's comedies. That's because each play is different but uniformly funny. ``We innovate on stage. A sudden joke on the latest political development catches on like wild fire.''

Shekher is a onetime political aspirant who now swears by his forte. ``I am satisfied. So is my audience. Look hard. When TV came, sabhas declined. The actors shifted to the small screen. But I kept my distance from TV. Still, I was the first to create a TV serial for DD with Vannakolangal, whose audio cassettes are still popular after 15 years.''

In 25 years, Natakhapriya has produced 22 plays, 18 of them still popular. The aim is always pure entertainment. Not passing on `some message'. ``Our forte is verbal comedy, attractive to all people. Vulgarity or supporting an illegal cause is a no-no. Last week, our show at Singapore, even in the midst of Ramzan fasting and Karthigai day, drew a full house. ''

His recent U.S. trip was a great success: 27 shows in 32 days across 15 cities.

The troupe is known for its discipline. All are tee-totallers and Shekher says he does not waste time anywhere. He shot two films during foreign visits and another one ``Marappan'' is being made.

All this show that even if entertainment technologies change, ``we're like gas lights. Always there and reliable...And any live-show attracts people!'' he adds.However, he is rueful that dramas don't get sponsorships as much as music events do.

He has a personal satisfaction. A psychiatrist asks his patients to watch/listen to Shekhar plays to reduce tension.The engineering diploma-holder, is an accomplished sound recordist, producer, photographer and director. He has won awards as radio producer, but was inspired to take up drama in the 70s under his father S.V. Venkataraman's leadership. Shekher's film and TV careers have also met with success, though not his political foray in Mylapore.

The actor has another side: a willing fund raiser for charitable causes and a regular blood donor, Shekher along with his troupe members donate for educating poor children, healing the sick, helping the disabled; and building three shrines for `Sukhabrahmarishi'.

His long term plan is to start a drama school because stage ``remains the gateway to filmdom''.

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