CHENNAI: How often do our expressions reflect the inner thoughts? Geetha Kailasam’s debut play, Oru Sila Pala Nimidamum Pechchum, revolves around the daily happenings in life and how we react to different situations. It was staged on Friday at the Narada Gana Sabha. A charted accountant by profession, Geetha has always been passionate about storytelling and writing. She has penned many short stories in eight years out of which six of them have been published, including, Ni Ezhudhiya Naan and Hello Naan Amma Pesuren,an audio book.
“Every powerful emotion will have an underlying humour in my stories because that is my area of strength. Certain lines will make you smile while others will make you cry,” explains Geetha, daughter-in-law of late veteran director K Balachander. She has also been taking care of their production house Minbimbangal for 12 years. “There were many people to help me clear my doubts during the play. They’ve all worked under my late husband, Bala Kailasam, and my father-in-law. Now I wish I had the opportunity to explore my creative side under them directly. They are my inspiration,” she says. Geetha forayed into Tamil plays with a crash course in theatre. She believed that it would be easier to learn anything due to prior knowledge.
“I pitched the idea during a book release last November in the presence of Chennai Counselor Foundation. All of them were practising psychologists and they loved the theme of mind voice. I had a bound script but hadn’t developed a story line. The 30 minutes play was gradually increased to around 90 minutes. We have been rehearsing now for three months,” she shares. The story is about Latha, the protagonist, whose silence masks turmoil within. She struggles to express her emotions to whomever she desires. In a strange stroke of luck, she is presented with the possibility of expressing herself freely. But we don’t know if this is reality or her imagination?
“Often we might want to share our feelings with a friend, but would choose to remain silent. But when we express it after a while, it wouldn’t make sense as they don’t remember it. That’s the thing. You write to express and communicate, but fail sometimes due to your nature or situation. Even the most bold people have this issue,” she explains. Reminiscing her favourite Balachander movie, Sindhu Bhairavi (1985), she adds that some films make us strong. “It broadens our perspective, approach towards life and convey thoughts that are way too progressive and advanced for the time period they were shot.” All the artists would get together in the evening, after work, for rehearsals.
“The lead, Meka Rajan, spent about six hours every day with me for 40 days. Bringing all of them together was a humongous task but we managed to do a few rehearsals with the whole cast,” she shares. Preparing for a play is different from that of film. She had to understand each artist’s personality, ensure they did not forget the lines, and train them based on their experience. “I was a debutante myself. Understanding and building a rapport was important. Sometimes you might not work together due to extreme differences also. But Tamil theatre artists are tremendously hardworking. They spend even their weekends on stage,” says Geetha, adding that even she spent most of her time with them.
She plans to do more plays and shows. Her wishes to do stories on television serial scenario,
divorce of young people, and stories with a humorous touch for children. “My son and daughter also write. He too has a role in the play. That way, we’re all learning as a family and improving ourselves together in the journey,” she says.