With a penchant for the off-beat
KAUSLAYA SANTHANAM
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His foray into the small screen has not diminished `Bombay' Chanakya's passion for the stage.
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Bombay Chanakya
When ``Irandaam Chanakyan" was staged in Chennai, it made quite an impact on the audience. The playwright `Bombay' Chanakya (J. Raghunath) had arrived. That was more than ten years ago. The play, that portrayed the clash between a father and son and dealt with the relevance of the Vedas to modern science, impressed Director Balachander. "He came back the next day to view another production `Kaanal Neer' even without my inviting him," recalls Chanakya. ``You need bigger audience for your work," he said.
The director was as good as his word. Chanakya soon began writing the scripts for Balachander's TV serials. ``Kaadal Pagadai,'' ``Premi'' and ``Jannal'' became hugely popular with viewers.
``But I never forgot theatre," says the playwright who recently celebrated the 14th anniversary of his troupe Kalamandir. Four of his 11 works were staged during the event.
``You will not see the usual mother in-law daughter-in-law conflict in my plays,'' he says. Brain drain, journalistic ethics, corruption and erosion of values are among the themes he has tackled. ``Agni Vaarpugal'' grew out of an incident of domestic violence reported in Britain. ``The same incident is now being made into a film `Provoked' starring Aishwarya Rai.''
Passion
Born and brought up in Mumbai, the playwright has made his home in Chennai. ``I settled here because of my passion for Tamil theatre,'' states Chanakya who had written and presented four plays in Mumbai before relocating to this city. But like many others before him did he not turn to a more paying medium? ``I find greater satisfaction in theatre than in television. But it is difficult to survive by just putting up plays,'' he says frankly.
The playwright presented ``Irandaam Chanakyan'' as a TV serial. ``Medai'' and ``Veetukku Veedu Looti'' were other successful ventures. ``I have just completed `Pudu Amma' with Seetha and Venu Arvind,'' he says. Chanakya put up his first play ``Avan Oru Kelvikuri'' in 1977 on the theme of the educated unemployed. The success of ``Nerudum Uravugal'' encouraged him to bring it to Chennai. ``Mumbai had just a few sabhas in the late 1980s whereas Chennai had more than 25. ``Kartik'' Rajagopal presented ``Nerudum Uravugal'' at the R.R. Sabha.
Distinctly different from the usual sabha fare, it spoke about how society has no right to invade the privacy of an individual. Chanakya then gave up his job in a firm to devote himself to the theatre full time. ``I joined Marina's Rasika Ranga as an actor. When I told him I wanted to start my own troupe, he was so generous he lent me actors from his group.
The others who inspired me were Balachander (by the range of subjects he covered) and Cho who showed me how effective theatre could be as a means of communication.''
Work ahead
Chanakya regrets that today theatre is considered merely as entertainment in Tamil Nadu and not an art form as in Maharashtra and Karnataka. He is now planning a work that will cover a span of 150 years in the life and culture of Tamil Nadu.
Have his plays not become diluted and melodramatic, lacking their earlier fire? ``Perhaps I have to examine that. It might be owing to the influence of the serials,'' he replies. The remark reveals his willingness to accept criticism, a trait that distinguishes him from many artistes.
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
