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Passion for drama

Photo: S. Ramesh Kurup

Drama Queen:Usha Chadrababu talks about her award and life on the stage

As she recites the dialogues from ‘Kadathanattamma,’ the play that won her the best actress award at the Kerala State professional drama competition held recently, Usha Chandrababu becomes Poomathey Ponnamma once again.

“I am so glad that I won the award for this role. It is the most challenging one in my career as a professional theatre artiste,” says Usha, who is completing 20 years on stage this year.

She adds: “Ponnamma’s role has everything a leading lady in a play could hope for: great dialogues, good music, dance, a message for society and the entire play revolves around her. We had the premiere of the play last Onam and have already performed 186 shows,” says the Kozhikode-based artiste.

She admits she did expect the award. “After watching my performance, many would approach me saying I was a sure runner for the award. I am indebted to so many of my colleagues in theatre for this award: Jayan Thirumala, who wrote the dialogues in ‘Kadathanattamma,’ Manoj Narayanan, who directed the play, and Majeesh Karyad, who taught me Theyyam for this role,” says Usha.

She is also delighted that this play staged by Rangabhasha Theatres, Kozhikode, has won the award for best play. The play, which is based on folklore, focusses on Poomathey Ponnamma, who fights for justice. The plot is cleverly juxtaposed with the present. Besides Ponnamma, Usha also plays a young television actor who is exploited by society.

“In the end, the actress also revolts against the injustice meted out to her. ‘Kadathanattamma’ is all about women’s emancipation and it feels good to be a part of it,” says Usha.

This is Usha’s second best actress award. The first was in 2005 for the roles in ‘Navarasanayakan,’ where she played an 18-year-old teenager and a 40-year-old woman.

Playing multiple roles in professional theatre in Kerala is nothing unusual. “That is one way of cutting costs. The fact is that there is little money in theatre in Kerala. It is difficult for an actor to make a living from the stage. And we cannot blame the drama troupes, for they get as little as Rs. 10,000 for a show, after investing something like Rs. 3 lakhs for a play. When the organisers are willing to pay lakhs for a live music programme, I don’t know why they are hesitant to pay some decent money for staging a play.” However drama still flourishes due to dedicated artistes such as Usha and their passion for the stage. “Acting on stage is like an addiction for me; I am totally hooked. Ever since I played Xanthippe in ‘Socrates,’ in a college play while I was doing my pre-degree inThrissur, I have been in love with theatre,” she says.

The actor made her debut in professional theatre in 1988. “It was director Ibrahim Vengara who was instrumental in bringing me on to the professional stage. He invited me to do a role in K.T. Mohammed’s ‘Theekkanal.’ I consider myself lucky to have been able to make my debut through a play written by K.T. I have acted in a few other plays by him, including his masterpiece, ‘Ithu Bhoomiyanu,’” Usha reminisces.

For a few years, Usha and her husband Chandrababu, a musician, ran a drama company called Soumyaswara. “But we ended up making huge losses and had to close it down. As I said, life is difficult if you are a theatre activist in Kerala.”

But she has no regrets about the career she has chosen. “Recently I was part of a feminist street play named ‘Pen Peruma,’ written and directed by Purushan Kadalundi that was performed from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram. I was touched by the response from the audiences. I saw them weep along with the actors. That is the power of theatre and that is why I am so glad to be a part of it,” says Usha.

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