It was felicitation of a different kind at Bharat Kalachar, past Wednesday. Five nominees of the State Government’s Kalaimamani award were honoured ahead of Theatre Maham’s play, ‘Perumalae.’ Suppini, T.V. Varadharajen, Kudanthai Mali, Chandramohan and Balaji (Madhu) were the happy five. If the State recognition for their decades-long service to the genre delighted them, this gesture of their ‘dear friends’ moved them. And all of them said in unison that it was team effort. The event was a joint effort by Bharat Kalachar, Tamil Stage Drama Producers’ Association and Theatre Maham.
“It was Madhuvanthi’s idea for World Theatre Day. ‘Let the Government ceremony come later. We should be the first to congratulate our family members, selected for the accolade,’ she said,” revealed YGM. It was indeed a family affair brimming with warmth and affection. Receiving a shawl and a gift as a token of appreciation, the artistes expressed their unalloyed love for theatre. “Nothing can match the thrill we feel in front of a live audience. Tinsel is lucrative and glamorous but it is theatre, which has won our hearts, for ever,” they said replying to the felicitations.
Kudanthai Mali | Photo Credit: M_Karunakaran;M_Karunakaran -
T.V. Varadharajen. | Photo Credit: K_V_Srinivasan
In an exclusive aside, Balaji said: “I need to thank several people for this. First ‘Crazy’ Mohan for giving me a platform for so many years. I haven’t acted in any other script. And the team, Crazy Creations with which I have worked all these years, our producer Khanthan, my family and the Press. Through reviews, profiles and interviews, the newspapers and journals have highlighted my work many times. I owe it to all of them.”
Audience favourite
Suppini pointed to Y.G. Mahendra as the man behind the moment. A regular in all of UAA’s classics, Suppini is an audience favourite. “Mahendran asked me for my resume back in 2014. ‘You haven’t got Kalaimamani yet,’ he said. I gave him the details and forgot about it. If I’m in spotlight today, it is because of YGM.”
Chandramohan attributed it to the goodwill of theatre lovers and patronage of sabhas. “I may have talent but without a stage, it won’t come to light,” he said. “I thank all the sabhas, which have supported Mother Creations, my team without whose encouragement I couldn’t have come this far and the Government for giving this recognition. This is invaluable for theatre artistes, who are in this field for the love of the Stage,” he added.
T.V. Varadharajen, who could not be present on account of personal reasons, said: “If Kalaimamani comes as a fillip to the theatre community, this joint felicitation is icing on the cake. My drama foray began under the direction of Y.G. Mahendra and the first award was from Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha. Several titles and awards have come my way and each time I become emotional. So one can imagine my feelings at this moment. I thank the entire United Visuals team, which is more a family, my parents and gurus for my success.”
Kudanthai Mali, who could not attend the function because of indisposition, said: “Any award is a big boost to a theatre artiste and I cherish every title conferred by sabhas. Kalaimamani is a crowning glory. The joint felicitation underlines the unity among the community and I thank everyone associated with it.”
It was film personality Cheran, who did the honours. “It is not easy to perform on stage. Many great actors were former theatre artistes and my humble wish would be that they should come back. My latest film ‘Tirumanam,’ did not fare well at the box office. It was dubbed as ‘drama.’ Life is a drama and I would like to re-release it,” observed the director of several hits.