MYSORE: Theatre troupe Kala Gangothri, in association with Amara Kala Sangha of Mysore, will stage a play "Mysore Mallige", based on the popular poetry collection of K.S. Narasimhaswamy, at Kalamandira on Sunday. Rajendra Karanth, who wrote the script for the play, has infused a contemporary tone into it, says B.V. Rajaram, the director. The play is being staged on the occasion of the "Suvarna Karnataka" year.

Narasimhaswamy, through his poems, had sought to depict the joys, sorrows and adolescent love of his generation, in his inimitable style.

Like R.K. Narayan's fictional Malgudi, Narasimhaswamy had created "Naviluru" and narrated through his poetry the vagaries of pre-Independence life in Karnataka.

Rural life

Earlier, T.S. Nagabharana had directed "Mysore Mallige" based on Narasimhaswamy's poems, and had sought to portray rural life. However, Mr. Rajaram has instead sought to explore various stages of the poet's life, from adolescence to old age. He uses a fictional character, a rural bangle seller, Balegara Channayya, to narrate the story of the poet through a conversation with the poet's granddaughter.

Mr. Rajaram, who has also directed plays such as "Mukhyamanthri", "Mukajjiya Kanasugalu", "Mandra", "Oedipus", "Achalayatana" and "Purush", has used songs based on Narasimhaswamy's works, by P. Kalinga Rao, Mysore Ananthaswamy and C. Ashwath. The songs include classics such as "Balegara Channayya", "Bagilige Bandihanu", "Hattu Varshada Hinde" and "Nee Baruva Dariyali".

The original "Mysore Mallige" was first released in 1942 at Maharaja's College.

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