Now sponsors for weddings
SUGANTHY KRISHNAMACHARI
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Big budget doesn’t deter this resourceful father, whose daughter wants to marry the son of a rich man.
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Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Social theme: Sponsor Kalyanam.
It was a rare occurrence when the South Zone Cultural Centre organised a Tamil play, “Sponsor Kalyanam,” in the city recently. The theme, as the title suggests, was marriage, with the playwright taking a dig at the absurd length to which
faith in astrology takes people.
Ethirajulu Naidu (Adade Manohar) and his wife (Kaveri), are at their wits’ end, unable to satisfy the different conditions laid down by all the astrologers that they have consulted in connection with the marriage of daughter Aishwarya. One says the groom’s name should begin with the letters ‘Cha.’ Should he be called Charlie Chaplin, wonders Ethirajulu. Another says the groom should have no parents, while yet another rules out siblings.
But the matter is taken out of their hands, when Aiswarya (Lakshmi), tells them that she has fallen in love with Rakesh (Ganesh Babu), the son of a rich businessman, Varadarajulu Naidu (Power Gopal). No marks for guessing that Varadarajulu comes up with a list of demands that the girl’s parents are unable to meet. And yes, as in all such situations, the groom is a week-kneed, spineless creature, who doesn’t protest. His excuse that he cannot put his father’s life in danger considering that Varadarajulu has only recently undergone a heart surgery, somehow doesn’t wash. Rakesh, who is shown as coy and timid, doesn’t seem the sort to protest anyway.
Hackneyed plot
A trite theme, but Venkat’s (story, dialogues, direction) humour invests the hackneyed story with life. How Ethirajulu sets about meeting Varadarajulu’s demands forms the rest of the story. And Ethirajulu is anything but hackneyed in his approach to the problem. He decides to find sponsors for his daughter’s wedding. The scenes where he approaches a couple of cable T.V.Channels (Moon TV and Ajay TV) with his proposals are hilarious. He suggests that two cooks be hired for the wedding, and that a contest be organised between them under the title “Avangalaa Ivangalaa,” with the guests voting to decide who the best cook is. The TV channel will, of course, telecast the proceedings.
Yet another proposal is for a TV channel to telecast live, a dance competition between the groom’s family and the bride’s. Ethirajulu even suggests that the contest be titled “Kaalaada Kaiyaada!”
Adade Manohar as Ethirajulu was terrific. A serious end did not gel with the mood that the early part of the play had created. Venkat’s observations on the culture, or should we say the cult of sponsorship, his jokes about hosts of TV shows lisping Tamil in annoying accent, were thought provoking and welcome. However, recycling of tired old jokes, like the one about the lingerie shop owner, should have been avoided.
What was the message that Venkat sought to convey at the end of the play? Ethirajulu appeals to corporates to sponsor the weddings of middle class girls. Sponsoring weddings hardly seems the counter to people’s vanity. Is perpetuation of a problem the best way to solve it? If it is cost, not caste, that stands in the way of present day weddings, as Ethirajulu says, then should the aim not be cutting costs, rather finding someone to fund such pomp? Venkat, where was your sting when it came to something as fundamental as this?
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