Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
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Thiruvananthapuram
Making a point or two
MALATHI RANGARAJAN
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UAA’s latest attempt has maxims cloaked in comedy.
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Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Trip to a rosy past: Swadeshi Aiyer
UAA’s ‘Swadesi Aiyar’ journeys to the past and returns to the present and in the process presents some relevant perspectives. Dialogue that is at once thought-provoking and funny is a notable highpoint. And when melodrama creeps in,
the fun quotient redeems the play.
Written by ‘Chitralaya’ Sriram and dramatised and directed by YGM, ‘Swadesi Aiyar’ lays stress on values even as it laces its intent with levity and humour. Thankfully ‘ …Aiyar’ doesn’t go overboard in its didacticism.
The downside of gizmos — computers and net included — and the damage they cause to young minds, are underlined in ‘Swadesi Aiyar.’
The line
The story has its share of loose ends but the larger picture makes its point loud and clear.
Hailing from a family steeped in patriotism and values, sexagenarian Shankar Raman (Y.Gee.Mahendra) is unable to brook the pseudo lifestyle and tastes of his wife, sons and daughter. But beyond voicing his opinions, he is unable to din sense into them. The rest of the family decides to send him away to an old age home. But Shankar Raman outwits them. Lock, stock and barrel they are packed away to the past (Mylapore, in 1945) on a 30-day sojourn, in a time machine, as part of his friend, scientist Thothadri’s experiment. What begins as a culture shock for the youngsters and their ‘modern’ mom turns out to be Operation Reformation!
The decision of the family to send its head out to an old age home is too sudden and lacks rationale because except for the slight nagging, the stickler to tradition isn’t a martinet at all!
YGM’s trademark humour is intact. The actor is so much at ease on stage that even his minor gaffes in dialogue delivery only add to the spontaneity. When he says that crime and chicanery were comparatively less in the 1940s, you begin to yearn for a turnabout in the present day. The actor who tickles you most with his expressions and dialogue is the serious looking Balaji. He plays Shankar Raman’s brother-in-law. The set (Kannan) of a home in Chennai in 1945 comes with a touch of aesthetics.
Eschewing the flippancy you had witnessed in some of their earlier stage endeavours, the ‘Chitralaya’ Sriram-Y.Gee.Mahendra combo has a couple of strong messages running through the warp and weft of their new venture.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
