"All the worlds a stage, we are all players!!!" Theatre is the lap of Goddess Saraswathi. The medium is used to educate, create awareness, bring in talents, spread knowledge and entertain and educate the masses.
From times immemorial, the medium of theatre and drama had influenced the thinking of the mankind. They have injected quite a few deep rooted thoughts that can change the perspectives of various people. Theatre became a strong force during our freedom struggle. It was used to motivate, encourage and rage people towards the spirit of independence. Such is the power of this medium
Of late, theatre has been overtaken by television and OTT platforms. However, the passion of the few is what is making this performing art form survive, thrive and succeed. There are no retakes in Theatre, and the homework have to be perfect. There is no repeat for dialogues..so the diction, dialogue and language, have to be in sync and as expected. There is no time for heavy make up or new costumes, theater artists have to change in fraction of seconds before the next scene.
It is live audience and you can either get their blessings or brick bats if there are intolerable flaws. It needs lot of planning, perfect execution, capturing script, right actors, acceptable language and above all, a powerful story to glue the audience to the seats.
When you have all of the above said, to perfection for a full packed audience (who are ardent theater lovers and critics/enthusiasts ) in a big sabha like Naradha Gana Sabha - You are doing something right!!! Yes. That is the exact feeling that I and rest of the audience around me had watching the new kid in the block " Paayum Oli"
First Production from "ThRee" - Paayum Oli presented by Lavanya and Bhaskar:
My good friend Lavanya Venugopal and M.V. Bhaskar's own Production House "ThRee" came up with their maiden production on 27 April 2023 as part of the Kodai Nataka Villa at NGS. The audience were enthralled to watch on stage, Bhaskar, Lavanya, Sukanya, Subbu, Jayanthi, Paramesh, Naren and Arjun.
The entire play set in 2 households, was brilliantly executed with the support of Lights by Babu and Yogesh. Though there is one constant set, Set Shanmugam has proved that less is more, with the perfect setting of the living rooms. As the play move from one scene to the other, you see a flaw less execution with the amazing backstage support by Arjun, Thendral, Vicky and Madhukar. There is one poster for the play. A rather powerful one created Disney and Monisha. The music by Daskhin and songs sung by R. Gayathri and Dakshin add to the captivating moments of the play. The lyrics of Mahakavi Bharathy was put to the right and great use.
The man behind this master-blaster is none other than V. Sreevathson who wrote and directed the script. The end result can only be nothing but success. For Sreevathson is the best craftsman and knows his art pretty well. The dialogues are powerful just like the story. He knows to extract the best out of every artist. Especially if you have Lavanya, on stage, what less can you ask for. She is a director's artist. She does it with ease, poise and perfection. You should watch this play without fail to believe what I say here!!! You will not be disappointed for sure!!!
The Plot - The Story - The Message!
In a traditional "Ponnu Pakkara " Scene - where the groom with his widowed mother visits the girl's house for match making. Both the families discuss and the girl and boy meet. However, there comes no spark and the bell does not ring between both of them. And in a very amicable way, the families communicate that the boy is not interested and the girl's family moves on with the next match finding. The father and daughter share a very transparent, open and cordial relationship where they share day to day things and also appreciate each other's feelings and emotions. The widowed mother, however hesitates to be open to her son as the boy has his own emotions to deal with and cannot fathom the loneliness his mother is going through. The dialogues of the grandmother, keeps the audience in splits and thinking. She did her role fantastically well and the girl's uncle also does it with ease and elegance.
The artists literally lived in their roles. Over a period, girl's father (Shatruganram) and the boy's mother ends up in a phone friendship. They spend time talking lot of things that interest them from food, lifestyles, belief systems, flash memories of their spouses and eventually, a very subtle and beautiful bond builds with them. This actually creates a sense of anxiety in the boy who is unable to understand the need for a companion for his mother who lost her husband and struggling with loneliness. He tries to justify asking what the society would think, what is appropriate and so on. However, on the girl side, the father is open and acknowledged the fact that he is in friendship with the boy's mother and would like to take it to the next level. The family is emphatical and understanding.
On confrontation, the mother opens up like a volcano of emotions - she tries to empathize with her son's questions, her self-doubts and the need for her companionship. She pours out on bringing out the fact on her sacrifices and thinking of the society around her. However, humanity and self-love is what is above all the societal pressures and she expresses it very deeply and clearly and the boy feels so overwhelmed in not understanding his mother earlier. Eventually, things get lighter and the bond becomes firm and stronger and the plot ends with both the families uniting to celebrate her birthday. There comes a light at the stroke of midnight and this light is there to stay and enlighten the masses!!!
Message:
Truly a heart-warming message. I have seen the need for the companion when the spouse passes away in middle age and there is so much of life left for the other one. Society sympathizes with them, define rules that do not belong to them, create a cob-web around what is right and what is not and the sole victim is the person who lost their life- partner. No matter what children or families do, there is still a strong emotional vacuum that is left unfulfilled in many people who struggle with loneliness.
These kind of drama's with messages of social-reforms are needed even today. It was some decades ago that social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy advocated widow remarriages and brought in abolition of sati and created reforms for new lease of life for widows. It is more worst when a man remains single after losing his wife. The trouble is actually multiplied.
This is when the society need to understand that we are no body to define the rules for others and let every one live the way that actually makes them happy and be at peace. Especially children who are self-centered these days need consideration but at the same need not slay down the lives only for them. It is ok to live what makes us happy. It is ok to find love again. It is ok to get into a relationship again. It is actually ok to remarry if that is the need. It is ok to find a companion and stay sane in life than struggle in depression and vacuum. This drama definitely makes it clear and says it loud. This is the kind of reformical thought provoking messages we need. Paayum Oli proudly bring out this message to the masses and that is the beautiful reason why this drama is a hit and will be a running success!!!
Kudos to the entire cast and crew and my special thanks to Lavanya Venugopal for extending the invitation for me to watch and cherish this play. Wishing the team great success on their future endeavors. God bless!
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