Tale of the ‘golden’ asura brothers

CHENNAI: A  15-year-old actor jumps in the air and lands along with his majestic club in front of a grand backdrop, as we enter the Kumararajah Muthiah Hall, Chettinadu Vidyashram. A few seconds later, three students form a ‘human stair’ and a 13-year old runs over, jumps and performs a classic stunt. This is a prelude to what you’ll see this Wednesday at the same auditorium. The famous Chettinad Players are back this year with yet another massive production — The Hiranya Brothers (in English). Ecstatic about the ensemble’s 13th production, director J Jayakumar walks us through the play.

“The theatre group is well-known for its productions based on Indian mythology and I am glad to have been part of it since its inception,” says Jayakumar. The new production is usually flagged off in of June and ‘actors’ from classes 7,8,9 and 11 are trained extensively. “It’s a mix of physical, vocals, and stunt training and also script reading. Once they’re trained, we start designing the production. In November, we have the big day!” smiles the enthusiastic director.

The script has been penned by Kumaravel and Deepika and it portrays the life of the infamous Hiranya Brothers — Hiranyakashupu and Hiranyakashan (‘Hiranya’ meaning golden). “The grandeur of the set, the performance of the actors, dancers, the light, music and the realistic and authentic costumes are sure to take the audience by storm,” beams Jayakumar.

Several alumni of the theatre group have branched out and founded their own ensembles in the city, and many play an integral part in the production. “We have about seven to eight alumni in this production. One of them plays the character of Hiranyakashupu,” says Jayakumar pointing to Mohamed Asif Hameed Aka ‘Assault’ Asif. “I joined the school in Class 11 (2008) and have been part of all the productions since then. But, this is the first time I am playing a negative role.

It was challenging but, I have got a hang of it!” smiles the actor-cum-stunt designer. There is no one-man show in our productions and its all team work. The production comprises of around 75 artistes including dancers. The stage and sets have been designed by Thotta Tharrani, music by Paul Jacob and lights by Lawrence. “Tharani has always done an amazing job with the sets. His sets tease your brain to make the best use of it!” he exclaims.

Principal Amudha Lakshmi, who pioneered the group, adds, “Through these plays, we want the students to engage in conversations and understand the rich heritage and culture we belong to.”

Chettinad Players will stage the play for the media on Nov 22 , 6 pm, at Kumararajah Muthiah Hall, Chettinad Vidyashram, RA Puram. For details, call:   24938040

Epics on stage
The previous plays by Chettinadu Players were based on Indian epics and portrayed principal characters and events like Karna, Raavana, Bheeshma, Krishna, Kurushethra, Raghuvamsam and Sundarakandam