Friday, July 4, 2014

Ponniyin Selvan - on stage

This June 8th was a day i have been looking forward to for quite some time now. This is the day that i would see a popular Tamil literary work being staged. i was eager because, one, i wanted to see how had the makers manged to make a screenplay out of a novel that runs to 1000 pages and takes place in varied locations and has so much twists and turns and political intrigue and further the novel is such a widely read and passionately followed work that any serious attempt would have to stand the judgement of millions of passionate readers.

The very fact that someone has dared to was in itself very exciting enough. i had more reasons to be excited. I had auditioned for an appearence in the play and was a part of the team for a couple of weeks and hence had happened to befriend the makers and the actors. so it was a day to see my friends perform.

Having known Pravin, the director of the play, having felt his inspiring presence on me and having witnessed his sincerity and the dedication he puts in,  i was sure that he was capable of nothing but sheer magic and his efforts would yield nothing short of a phenomenal performance. knowing what to expect, i was very eagerly looking forward to the show.

The play was special in it had to face the double challenge of having to be judged by the scheming eyes of the reader and the discerning eyes of the viewer. The reader enters with a ever suspecting and unbelieving mindset. he keeps doubting how could his magnum opus running to 1000 pages be lived up in a sapn few hours. He is possessive about his personal experience with the book. he has his favorite moments, fav characters, he has an image for each of the character playing out in his mind, eccetera, he savors the novel with a personal touch. so he is suspicious about how this stage play is going to touch upon his personal realm.

(abruptly ended..)

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