Veteran T. V. Radhakrishnan scored full marks for his dialogue for Sowmya’s ‘Endrum Anbudan,’ a play on filial love. The play, which had no female characters, was staged as part of Kartik Fine Arts’ Kodai Nataka Vizha at Sathguru Gnanananda Hall and in memory of R. Krishnanswamy (Narada Gana Sabha).
Mahadevan (P.T. Ramesh), a retired bank employee, invests all his savings on his first son’s education abroad. However, Manoj (Sriram) belies his father’s expectations. He settles down in the U.S. and marries an American. Mahadevan is left to fend for himself, in spite of having a second son, Shankar (Girish Venkat). But there is one person who cares about his wellbeing and that is his childhood friend Mama Srinivasan (T.V. Radhakrishnan ).
Mahadevan falls ill, and Shankar chooses that moment to demand money for his business. He decides to sell the house, much to the concern of his friend, ho opposes the move.
When a forlorn Mahadevan slips into a coma, Shankar is not ready to take care of him and decides to move him to an old age home. Srinivasan then reveals a secret to Shankar but by then the situation has become irreversible. The last scene is the high point, with T. V. Radhakrishnan at his best. Ramesh moved the audience with his impressive performance.
Notwithstanding a few directorial flaws, the play left a lasting impression, although the knot would seem familiar to those, who noticed a story that was doing the rounds recently.
Eendra Pozhuthil
Love is usually the premise of C.V. Chandramohan’s plays. In Mother Creations’ ‘Eendra Pozhuthil,’ the playwright focused on patriotism. His word play showed his proficiency in Tamizh.
Aravind (P. Madhu), who serves the army, is about to return to the border after completing his annual vacation. He is to retire soon. Meanwhile, his visually challenged father (C. V. Kumar) has to undergo an eye operation to regain his sight. The first thing his father wants to see after surgery is his son in uniform.
The night before Aravind’s departure is an emotional one for the family. Aravind wants his daughter Bharathi (Sahithya Srinath) to join the army. His wife Meera ( Manjula Devi Pillai), a strong woman, supports his idea, but his father-in-law (Jayakumar) is against it.
Aravind’s colleague Mukund (P. T. Ramesh), who is also returning to the border, gifts an army uniform to Bharathi.
Madhu scored with his voice, while C. V. Kumar emoted aptly. Mellow acting by Jayakumar, Manjula, P.T. Ramesh and Sahithya sustained the play’s momentum.
Paarthu Pesu Pattabhi
Energetic Ananthu is immensely gifted. One wished that he had channelised this properly into producing good scripts and not the run-of-the-mill comedy stuff.
Rail Priya’s ‘Paarthu Pesu Pattabhi,’ is yet another play that tested one’s patience.
With no storyline to speak of, it was slapstick with a lot of dialogue, where the jokes were also jaded. The plot seemed to be a lift from the film ‘Murai Maman’.
Pattabhi (Ananthu) is a soothsayer. Usually his predictions come true. Throughout the play, he does nothing else and the ennui set in. At times, the repartees between Pattabhi and his friend Triunavukkarasu (Rail Venkat) were indecipherable.
The highlight of the comedy was the last scene when Ananthu gives a sermon on positive thinking.
Times are changing and Rail Priya must realise this sooner or later.
