Falls short of expectations

WHAT CAN be more relevant in today's scenario than the issue of corruption?

United Amateur Artistes' latest play presented in association with webulagam.com is about an honest policeman who refuses to compromise on his principles despite pressure from his family members and superiors. Dramatised and directed by Y.Gee. Mahendra, the play was written by Kovai Anuradha. It was presented by the Madras West Round Table No. 10 at the Music Academy on April 12.

``Kavala Kavala'' shows that a topical theme alone does not make a good play. If the plot and execution go haywire, you have a play that is unbelievably banal.

Seetharaman (Auditor Shridhar) is a head constable who prides himself on his integrity. He draws inspiration from the memory of his old Tamil teacher (V. Subramanian), who was the personification of truth and honesty. Whenever he is swayed by temptation, he remembers him and is fortified.

Seetharaman's crazy parents-in-law, Panchanathan (Y.Gee. Mahendra) and Gomathi (Usha), urge him to take the easy way to a luxurious life and his wife Mahalakshmi (Brindha) longs for a better standard of living. Their daughter Aishwarya (Anitha) is in awe of her strict father.

At the police station where he is posted, Seetharaman often speaks yearningly to his colleagues of his ideal, Inspector Charles (Muthu Kumar), his former superior.

Charles returns to the station but he is no longer the man whom Seetharaman has followed as a role model. When Seetharaman refuses to toe his line, Charles frames him in a case involving a woman (Revathi). But his reformed father-in-law Panchanathan, a qualified lawyer, comes to his rescue.

Those who have followed UAA's graph in the last few years went to ``Kavala Kavala'' expecting to see a well-structured play with generous splashes of comedy and suspense. What they were served instead was a production that seemed frozen in time as much as its gaudy backdrop of the park in bright green, shocking pink and aquamarine blue that is the trademark of the Tamil sabha play. When playwrights and film scriptwriters run out of ideas, they turn to that stock-in-trade - the court scene.

But in ``Kavala Kavala'', the court scene was the only saving grace. Mahendra who was leaping around in an unseemly wig suddenly pulls himself together to the audience's relief. When he dons the lawyers' robes and cross-examines the witnesses, he redeems himself to some extent. The scene unfolds quite well and in the end, when it is declared that ``Truth will triumph'', the audience has recovered sufficiently to faintly endorse the statement.

In the first half of the play, while the sterling character of Seetharaman is being established, Panchanathan and his wife cavort through the stage in a manner that leaves the viewer amazed. The humour not only falls flat but is so coarse at places that it makes you squirm.

The artistes go through their paces as expected. Usha as the jaunty grandmother, who sports the most colourful western clothes, takes on her role with a breezy assurance. Mahendra's tuneful whistling that approximates speech displays his talent. The special effects are a brave attempt but bear little resemblance to R. S. Manohar's slickly executed ones (which were said to inspire the effort). The Tamil teacher who makes a wobbly entrance each time high up on a rope trolley has to be admired for delivering his lines so firmly. Tamil plays are usually strong in dialogue. Here the dialogue is lacklustre. The only bit of satire that hits the bull's eye is the hilarious bit on caste- based politics.

``Kavala Kavala'' is nowhere near vintage UAA. Crass and ill- produced, it left the viewer feeling very let-down. It shows that theatre groups need to choose scripts with greater care to prop up the sagging image of Tamil drama. There seems to be no point in bemoaning the lack of audience for Tamil plays if this is the sort of fare viewers, who have taken pains to make time for an evening at the theatre, are subjected to.

KAUSALYA SANTHANAM

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