CHENNAI: Ever imagined you would meet God one day? Well neither did Arunachalam, the lead character in N Ezhichur Aravindan’s drama Ada Kadavule. Especially considering he is ready to commit suicide because of his utter disappointment with life. Staged as part of the Nadaga Rathinangal drama festival on Sunday, this drama although liberal with the puns and humour, also turned out to be fairly thought provoking.
Before leaving the mortal world, Arunachalam decided thinks he needs some answers — why had his life been so miserable and why had god made him so ugly? Little did he expect that his answers would be granted to him by the creator himself. God takes him on a walk and shows him the purpose of his life. He explains that had Arunachalam not been born, the people around him would have not have seen the brighter side of life.
Gradually, the protagonist comes to realise that it is because of his birth that his mother’s marriage was saved, his younger brother’s future got secured, and because of his marriage, his wife was not cast as an outlaw and his boss’ family was saved. Unfortunately, he is told that a person who sees god will leave the world in seven days. However, god will make sure that people realise Arunachalam’s worth before he dies. The story takes a U-turn, when the creator throws a challenge — his life would be spared, if he can recognises god on Earth within seven days.
What follows is a comic adventure with plenty of witty dialogue and not your average cliche ending. Needless to say Arunachalam does go on to live a long life and director Mappilai Ganesh (who also plays the lead) does a swell job of keeping the audience engaged all the way through.
Also to watch out for are actors Girish, Andal Jayanti, K S Pazhani and N Ezhichur Aravindan. This one is a fun watch even you aren’t the least bit religious. For those who missed it, catch it next time at the Narada Gana Sabha on July 12.
50 years of drama
As part of the drama fest, A R Srinivasan (ARS) was conferred with Nataka Mudhra award for his outstanding contribution for over 50 years. If you haven’t seen his work on stage before, it’s likely that you’ve watched some of his Tamil serials while growing up, think Galatta Kudumbam and Thuppariyum Sambu. After 17 plays (out of which 14 have completed a silver jubilee), 87 films, 54 Tamil serials and 36 Doordarshan plays to his — the standing ovation that the actor and director and director came as expected on Sunday night, as the cheers rolled on.