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Drama making a comeback, says veteran actor

M.C. Kattappana

The character of Kunju Pilliai in “Arum Kothikkunna Mannu,” which tells the story of a farmer’s love for his soil, which was later occupied by a resort group and his fight for survival, has an emotional relationship with me, says M.C. Kattappana, who won the best actor state award for the drama.

According to Mr. Kattappana, the character has relevance in the present context and he could gauge the feelings of a farmer who was cut off from the natural surroundings.

“It is happening in the State where farmers are slowly being driven out by the construction mafia, which is led by the only goal of achieving maximum profit,” he says. Being a person from Idukki district where agriculture is the only major source of income, it provoked him when farmers who feed the people are being neglected, Mr. Kattappana, who has performed various characters over 6,000 stages across the State, says.

“From my role in some of the plays I performed while as a student to the present role in professional troupes, I keep a record. I have the notices of drama staged at various locations and the problems we faced when drama became secondary for people after TV and the visual media took the centre stage,” he says.

According to him, he had the experience of staging a character in a drama for which only 12 spectators turned up.

“That 12 men were all members of the committee which arranged the drama and we staged it for them,” says the smiling Mr. Kattappana who added that it is a welcome sign that drama is coming back. “Though people do not like sitting in an open ground for two to three hours to see a drama, there has been a quality improvement in the field of professional drama,” he says.

For Mr. Kattappana, his best satisfaction is while acting in a drama, in which he has three decades’ experience. “Film acting is secondary for me and acting in the TV serial is in my last preference,” says Mr. Kattappana who has acted in a few films and TV serials.

He said that many friends in the film field had advised him that he should stay either in Thiruvanathapuram or Kochi if he wanted to pursue in films.

“However, I took the option to act in dramas staged by professional troupes and stayed in Idukki,” he says and added that acting in a drama is an year’s contract and one can stay in a remote place and pursue the career.

For Mr Kattappana, loving a character is when he has an emotional relationship with it. In over 20 stages where the award-winning drama was staged, he had received accolades and comments from spectators that the character had so much touched them.

“This is the award from the spectators and it makes my confidence level high as an actor,” says Mr Kattappana.

Giji K. Raman

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