This city is home to perhaps the second largest film industry in the country – Kollywood. People still come here wanting to try their luck on the big screen. But before the film boom, Madras as it was known then, had a vibrant theatre scene. Telugu, Tamil and English plays vied for space and audiences flocked to watch their stars. Theatre of course went hand in hand with films as the same actors starred in both fields.
Actor Sachu recalls how Manorama, Major Sunderrajan, Muthuraman and she used to take three-hour breaks in between film shootings to act in plays. “It used to be tough balancing act. There was a time when people would start laughing at the sight of me and I too would laugh tooI was in theatre because of T.S. Balaiah, who said it would help me in memorising my lines and help in my acting,” she says.
She stopped acting in dramas after the TV serial craze began and she was unable to find time for theatre. “Theatre is better than films any day as it offers you instant results. Once A.R. Srinivasan and I played the lead roles in a play called ‘Thoppil Thanimaram’, which is about how children leave their parents. The play ended with ARS saying that since the children have all left, let us start living our lives. After the play, an old man came to the stage and fell at our feet and cried. We were shocked and when we asked him what was wrong, he said our play reflected his life. This was only one of many such instances,” she said.
In the 1950s, professional theatre gave way to amateur troupes. From historical plays and translations of English dramas, Tamil theatre delved into social themes and later, full-length comedy, which is still alive, caught on.
Actor Y. Gee. Mahendra recalls how his father Y.G. Parthasarathy (popularly known as YGP), broke tradition and brought in “drawing room Tamil to theatre. Before that, plays would be in only classical Tamil. He was also the first to give English titles for Tamil plays. He used subtle comedy to drive home social messages. He and his contemporary Pattu started off as members of the Suguna Vilasa Sabha, one of the oldest associations that patronised theatre in the city,” he says.
Though plays with social messages were quite popular, historical plays of those like R. S. Manohar and Heron Ramasamy too had their audiences. Actor S.Ve Shekar, whose father S. V.Venkataraman acted in more than 1,000 shows, remembers how setting had a major role. “R.S. Manohar used to change a scene in less than 10 seconds. The sabha system helped Tamil drama thrive since their members used pay for the tickets and the actors. The audience would tell the actors if the play was good and if it was bad, the sabha secretary would get an earful. All India Radio and Doordarshan too offered opportunities for theatre groups,” he said.
