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Bundle of burlesque
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The play-lets carried commendable performance by the actors who lived up to the imagination of ordinary audience, says P.S.BHATT
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Photos: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar
A scene from Bhale Manchi Chouka Beramu
NO HARD shoulder and noxious budget. Yet, Sumadhura Kalaniketan of Vijayawada managed to win over a surging crowd of 1,500 theatre buffs last week with a three-day festival of humorous play-lets. Thirty years ago, it had a humble beginning and a small agenda to treat its members with a momentous evening every month. For the last three decades, it played host to most of the musical plays, produced in the State and activities of numerous theatre groups of repute. It was an exercise assiduously carried out by a small band of dedicated activists.
Last Thursday, on its 31st anniversary, Sumadhura Kalaniketan put on board a play on the life and times of Shiridi Sai Baba, written and produced by Surabhi Leela Papa Rao, a scion of that famed Surabhi family. Papa Rao's presence on the stage as the god-in-making, his soft voice and tender looks made an impact on the packed theatre.
It was his 1131st performance. Naturally so, when awe-struck by the tricks on the stage, the devotees in the auditorium joined the chanting of the characters. It was not a simple firework and reptile run in Surabhi style. A clever mix of secular intent and mendicant reasoning in the script made the show credible. The opening was soul-searching and mirth invoking.
Minimalists' derision
The weekend ode to elegant smile was no less memorable. It was set to music by the enigma of the addicts to small screen. As the frauds and the ignoble litter the domestic circuit, it could be music to the ears for the writers of lighter vein. So was the churning out of plots on scams and on the greedy. There were quite a few new scripts as they were specially rewarded by the organisers. There were several attempts to divulge the indulgent homes much to the discomfiture of discerning members of the audience.
So, the moot questions lingered on. Why did not the writer shun the arid patch on thematic search? Was he scared to touch the political fuse?
So, the minimalists' derision thrived on the constraints of cast and locale. Diligent dialogues did illuminate dull moments of the narrative, while churlish exchanges did raise their heads.
Okati konte... okati free
A farce on discount sale, written by Jeelani, was a gathering storm in a family where the wife is hell-bent on buying things only at half their price. The habit lead them to police harassment.
Bhale manchi chouka beramu
In his narrative on cheap bargains, Adivishnu was racy and quick-witted. The husband had bought things from a grocer at certain rate, but declared ridiculously low rates to his wife to establish his superior bargaining instincts. The wife, in turn, sold the groceries at low rates to the neighbours thereby making her husband a pauper.
Bhartha Natyam
A play-let by Ramana Murthy depicted yet another housewife throwing the priorities of spending out of gear. The play showed that preaching at the end was futile in satires.
A scene from Shiridi Sai Baba
On one of the mornings, there was an interesting discussion on infrastructure problems in propagating theatre. Strangely, most participants suggested pricing of the shows, when free drama shows were going unattended. Narasa Raju, a former city coporator, advised various associations to come up with a blueprint to host new plays at various places. Raavi Kondala Rao, a veteran cine artiste, requested the amateurs to attain professional competence. Kabir Das, a "Nandi Award" winner, was pragmatic on scripting the plays, requesting the writers of humor to work out perfect scripts on subjects that last long.
Anthaa sari
Ganga Siva Kumar lined up an anchor wife and an adamant husband ready for divorce, yet living under one roof.
Caught in between the currents was a school-going son solving imaginary situations of suspicion and reproach among his parents. Neighbours helped them out to sit together. Caution: busy couple must not neglect their children.
Babai, ee saarikilaa kaaney
A Sankaramanchi Parthasarathy's absorbing play, did not preach any moral. It is on two people coming out of their own trappings.Infringement of code of conduct landed them in trouble.
One of them requested the servant maid to join a photo session, another, a junior artiste, to search for an accommodation. A rapid-fire sequence of action was devastatingly built up to amuse the audience, courtesy: sharp wit in the dialogue.
Incamera
Authored by M.V. Subramanyam, the play-let had serious import on inheriting property. Cornered by a drunken husband, his wife won her own case against him in a family court for restoration of rights on land. The magistrate provided comic relief.
Kaarulo shikaaru
The play-wright, Vijay Kumar, had portrayed how a family was nearly uprooted by a lure of lucre through dubious means and financial schemes.
Yes, they provided no occult vision as their social counterparts. If some of those presented had been cultured on filmy grounds, they ridiculed the deep maladies of our times, of trivial causes and of trifling excesses of individuals.
That was a solid sense for Sumadhura to celebrate.
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