Witty, contemporary
SUGANTHY KRISHNAMACHARI
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Writer, director and artists came together to present an endearing Tenali Raman who regaled the audience with his timely punches.
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Photo: S. S. Kumar
MIRROR TO SOCIETY: Scenes from Koothu-p-Pattarai’s latest production.
A bed-wetting, lollipop-sucking, fitness conscious, daft Krishna Deva Raya (H. Ganapathy), who wears his emotions on his sleeve; a quick witted Tenali Raman (S. Santhakumar), whose father died of cholera, and who admits that education eluded him; Tenali’s wife (Vinodini Vaidyanathan) with twinkling eyes behind a pair of over sized spectacles; daughter (Uthirambal) a youngster full of beans; Thathachari, the scheming minister (S.P.Sidharth), whose eyes flash anger at every encounter with Tenali; the talking cats, donkey, horse — wise animals all of them — completed the cast of Koothu-p-Pattarai’s ‘Tenali Raman,’ scripted by N. Muthuswamy, and directed by S. Somasundaram.
Still relevant
The stories are familiar but it was in the telling that they acquired a contemporaneity and polish. The modern day Tenali Raman’s witticisms that held a mirror to society were as relevant today as in the time of Krishna Deva Raya.
For instance, the jester’s observations on caste and superstitions have a relevance now, when obscurantism is sought to be legitimised in the name of tradition and culture. “It didn’t rain, when the godman came. It so happened that the godman came when it rained,” quips Tenali on one occasion.
The king for all his apparent daftness, has the requisite skills needed to hold on to power, and says so himself. Just when you think he has been caught on the wrong foot by the spy from Golconda, the king whips out a revolver and shoots him!
Of course, Tenali Raman knows all the tricks of rulers (true of present day rulers too). They may make the right noises against a rigidly stratified society, but they know it is in their interest to keep the people divided. “They keep the caste cauldron simmering, but under control. They just have to make sure it doesn’t spill over,” observes Tenali. “The rich take care of themselves. It is the poor, bitten by mosquitoes, exposed to infection, and lack of health care, who suffer,” he says on the health care provided by the state.
The Tilakashtamahishabandanam story had the audience in splits. But the piece de resistance was the story of the Brahmins invited to receive gifts from Tenali. The credit for this goes to Anandsami, who played Tenali’s ‘dead’ mother. The way he changed his expression from a frozen smile to one of ghoulish glee to placidity was a lesson in emoting. A brilliant piece of work!
Wily Tenali
Tenali Raman, who is sentenced to death by the king, escapes, making sure that the godman’s assistant who has been giving the people spurious medicines, is killed instead. The king, who thinks the death sentence has been carried out, is astounded when Tenali appears, with a pot where his head should have been. “Oh, King, you ordered that I be put to death. And since you said you never wanted to see me again, here you see my dead torso, with a pot in place of my head,” says the wily Tenali. “He’s lying. Tenali isn’t dead,” says Thathachari. And boy, are we glad he is not. Muthuswamy says that he was looking for the lyrical in the language of the streets. Has he found it? Undoubtedly!
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