Suddi Idu Suddi by VASP at Ranga Shankara,is based on a story by M.S. Sriram and directed by K. R Ganesh, the play urges one to reflect upon the primordial nature of theatre. If we agree that its most basic premise lies in the consensus between the actors and the audience where the latter come with the tacit agreement to suspend disbelief for the next certain number of hours and accept the ‘lie’ the actors proceed to present before them, this play insists that the matter of consensus be taken very seriously.
A man is stabbed fatally by two men in the wee hours of a morning; an old man out for his morning exercise witnesses the crime; it’s suspected that this man could be a known ‘naxalite’ on the run; the media goes to town with it and the politician-police nexus hush it up in ways its known to. The plot is supposed to be a comment on media’s irresponsibility and ‘breaking news’ culture. The play, however, was an earnest, but half-baked attempt taking a preachy detour and losing itself in the obsessive need for comic relief!
The characters introduce themselves mostly in direct addresses. “I am an old man. The doctor has advised me to exercise for good health, so I come to the park early every morning,” says the old man. A woman narrates the path of her entire career to someone who has dropped by, to establish herself as “a senior journalist”. The real-life character of Ramalinga Raju, the former chairman of Satyam, who was in the news a few years ago over a corporate fraud case, makes an appearance in the story to, presumably, put a spin on the ethics debate: who is an actual criminal? One who kills people or one who cooks the books of the company he founded “for the bright future of his children”? This, of course, happens through a long soliloquy before he vanishes from the plot as unceremoniously as he came in.
The only instance where acting looked real was when the police officer thrashes a hapless chauffer. Amidst all the mechanical acting, it looked like he was venting an off-stage grudge. The caricature of a TV channel’s ‘panel discussion’ was done well however – as caricaturisation was obviously the play’s forte.
The changing sets consisted of simple pieces of furniture, and the costumes were real – although the senior journalist’s very tight tights didn’t fit the image of a senior journalist. Make-up by Vijay Benacha was good in that the chief minster’s beard was believable.
In the end, a bare-chested man who looks like an aspiring contestant for Mr. India, strikes a poignant silhouette with a flag and a gun against a red screen – for an ostensibly deeply meaningful reason. The reason, unfortunately, remains a mystery.
Faltering dialogues and forced comedy, the play could have certainly done better.
