The role he played
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Theatre exponent Yenagi Balappa remembers grand days of company theatre in Karnataka
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Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.
ABSORBED Yenagi Balappa: `It was not just a passion for theatre, but also of Kannada'
The earliest Kannada theatre company came into being around 1877. Prior to this, when the State wasn't a unified entity yet, a lot many Parsi and Marathi plays came touring. Inspired by these groups, in 1877, Shanta Kavi who was a school teacher by profession, started his theatre company called Kritapura Nataka Mandali in Gadag. He was transferred to Hombala, but his commitment was so great that he came riding a buffalo every evening after school, ensuring that rehearsals weren't affected. That was his love for Kannada and theatre.
The other most important company was Kaadasiddeshwara Nataka Mandali set up by Kanaburgi Shivamurthy Swami. Then there was Vaman Rao Master's company that was set up around 1903. He knew both Kannada and Marathi. Theatre music is what it is because of him. He had musicians like Basavaraj Mansur and Mallikarjun Mansur singing for his plays. Even the renowned Gururao Deshpande was singing in his plays.
Most of our theatre songs were based on Hindustani music cheezs and there was a give and take between Maharashtra and us. But later, when HMV house came into being, they started recording Marathi theatre songs and gave them a legitimacy. When we sang them subsequently they said we were copying. It was a misconception.
Post Independence and for some time after Unification the main aim of theatre was education and entertainment. But in the later years, much to the distress of people like me, it became very commercial. It began to lose its sanctity.
I know about 400 songs and want to pass it on, so that it gets preserved for posterity. I have seen good times in theatre and so I don't feel like talking about today's experiments. I'd rather live with those golden memories.
(As told to Deepa Ganesh)
(Yenagi Balappa, one of the oldest living exponents of Kannada drama is a treasure house of songs. In fact, he is called "walking theatre.")
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