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Versatile Vidyuth

Diverse interests Vidyuth Sreenivasan

For someone who has a degree in economics, the attraction towards textile designing and theatre is not quite obvious. But Vidyuth Sreenivasan, who had a two-day sale-cum-exhibition at Anagha, Road No. 1, Banjara Hills astounds you in more ways than o ne. Besides having an eye for designs, this avid theatre buff is a marathon runner too. “Last week, I was in Singapore participating in the Singapore marathon,” begins Vidyuth, who faced arc lights as a 12-year-old for Maniratnam’s Anjali. “I was one among the 40 kids who created magic in the movie. I am present in all the songs except the Vegam… Magic Journey number.”

His tryst with theatre began when his friend dragged him to a play promising him the ‘presence of a lot of girls’. “If you are studying in an all-boys college, one needs to do all these,” Vidyuth says laughingly. It was a week before Christmas and the season of pantomimes and Vidyuth’s first play was a spoof. As he completed his graduation, he actively participated in several productions. If as Kapanna, he played a village idiot with élan in Nagamandala’s production, in Five Point Someone staged as part of MetroPlus Hindu Theatre Fest 2007, he was the narrator. “Theatre is my passion but I do not want to add drama and use complex words to tell you how much I love theatre,” says Vidyuth.

As ‘theatre did not pay bills’, a career in advertising seemed a good option. He also worked in Bangalore for sometime before moving back to advertisement. “One day I began to read The Alcheimist, and I got so immersed that I didn’t even go to work that day,” he recollects. He went to the office the next day but with a resignation letter. He joined his mother in her block printing designs and began his journey as a textile designer. “Amma had been working for the past 25 years and we had a block printing mould on our terrace but I was never interested. When I realised it was my calling, my outlook changed,” says Vidyuth, whose mantra is to create brand handloom.

He finds ideas in mundane things like dried peepal leaves, tyre marks and even manhole covers. One collection has been created inspired by the Devanagari script. When he is not choosing fabrics or drawing, he also works part-time as a consultant. “The block printing unit does not make me enough money,” he reasons. In Chennai, Vidyuth and his mother create their own collections and hold exhibitions regularly.

He plans to try his hand at men’s shirts and skirts for girls in handloom.

NEERAJA MURTHY

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