Madhuvanthi Arun comes from a league of theatre veterans. She’s the granddaughter of Y G Parthasarathy and the daughter of Y Gee Mahendra. So, when someone like her takes up direction, particularly theatre, one cannot help but have their interest piqued — especially when her first directorial venture is her dad’s play Shakthi, written almost 20 years ago.
With new sets by Thotta Tharani and music by composer Anirudh Ravichander, the play has been staged 25 times so far, with more shows still to come. City Express catches up with the lovely lady about her directorial debut on stage.
Firstly, congratulations on Shakthi’s run. Did you know it would go as far as it did when you saw your father directing it for the first time?
Thank you. We have just had 25 shows so far and we need to go further, which we hope to do. When dad directed the play, it was staged for almost 70 shows. That was 17 years ago.
What made you take up Shakthi for your directorial debut? What was the motivation behind it?
I wanted to give something back to dad, who is also our theatre guru, for his service to theatre. So we revisited Shakthi and redefined it a bit.
How different is your interpretation of Shakthi from that of your father? What sort of changes have you made?
The soul of the play remains the same, but technically we have enhanced it by bringing in Thotta Tharaniji to design the sets for us and Anirudh to score the music exclusively for the play. This is the first time, both set-wise and music-wise, we’re doing it for a Tamil play. And Sureshwar (popular TV actor) and I have co-directed it and played the two main characters of villian and heroine.
What is so special about the ‘revolving stage’ that is part of the set?
The revolving stage is another character in the play as we do not have any lights off during the play. The stage turns around continuously as the play progresses.
Tell me a little bit about the lead character. Who is she drawn from?
The lead character played by me is Shakthi and she is visually impaired. The play is an adaptation of Audrey Hepburn from the movie Wait Until Dark and the main villian Albert is played by Sureshwar, adapted from my dad and Allan Arkin’s roles.
This play was written almost 20 years ago. Are the issues faced by the lead character still relevant in this day and age?
Yes, visually challenged people face a lot of issues, even today. But they are definitely more empowered and confident about themselves now. We experienced this when we performed Shakthi for a group of 300 visually challenged people and their response to the play humbled us.
How has the reception been for Shakthi outside Tamil Nadu?
The reception for Shakthi all over Tamil Nadu and the North has been wonderful, especially from school and college students. We are yet to go on our foreign tours.
You come from a long tradition of Tamil theatre. How far does Tamil theatre have to go in Chennai to reach the popularity level enjoyed by its English counterparts?
These are two different genres and I do not believe in comparing the two. Tamil theatre has its own audience and from what I have seen through Shakthi, the younger generation is coming to watch us, which in itself is a great beginning and achievement.
What needs to be done differently, in your opinion, for Tamil theatre to reach that level?
Firstly I do not believe that Tamil theatre has to reach the level measured out by English theatre or vice versa. We have to keep setting high standards on our own and exceed this standard ourselves.
You have plans of taking Shakthi abroad. Tell us a little about those plans.
Yes, we are speaking to many organisations and associations abroad to reach out to the people who have interest in and want to promote Tamil theatre globally.
When is Shakthi’s next performance? And when do we see the play in Chennai again?
Shakthi’s next show is in Kolkata and yes if all goes well, you will see us in Chennai soon!