CHENNAI: The advent of technology has made life easier for the light man. But on the flip side, the creative urge to go in for innovations has taken a huge knock, says Chetta Ravi. A light man for over five decades, Ravi said the prefix was given by MGR when there were a handful of Ravi's in NS Krishnan’s troupe.
Ravi’s mother was a leading lady in Krishnan’s plays, where MGR made his debut as a stage actor. “I was pushed into acting at just four by my mother, who saw a supplement income to drive out poverty. Wisdom dawned on me early enough to learn the skills of carpentry, painting and electric work which paved the way to earn my livelihood,” he says.
Master of the craft
Sharing the best of his 36-year-old lightman career, one with YG Mahendran, he says, “For YGM, my presence was imperative as he strongly believed in my abilities to set up the mood and tone of a scene. Stage play depended a lot in the hands of the light man before the advent of Light Emitting Decade (LED).”
Admitting the utility value of LED, a craft he has learned to be in tune with in the present times, Ravi says he still longs for the thrill when with a mere white paper across the halogen lamp he could do wonders keeping the audience in suspense and in a trance. “It is imperative to attend rehearsals, get the storyline and dialogues in mind before the inauguration of a play. Any intelligent audience will know the goof up if the right environment is not created,” he points out.
Thanks to the frequent trips abroad with Mahendran, the shows at Broadway made him realise how backward our plays are. “But then, there is the cost factor which has prevented me from exploring the techniques I learned,” he adds.
Though he worked on plays across genres, it is the historical plays which made the day for Ravi. “I had my start with Heron Ramaswamy where a trick shot using the swing of a stick landing in his palm won a lot of admirers. I deliberately made the lighting dull and pointedly at one side of the stage to distract the audience. In that fleeing second, the stick was placed in the hand. Only a few could get that which was a sort of victory for me. These are the little games and allowances a light man is entitled to. But then, it all depends on the director who could be game for the little risk. It was fun so long it lasted,” he shares.
Ravi feels his effort is lost if the viewers fail to see the characters with inappropriate lighting. Blue colour is used to suggest night time while orange and red will clearly indicate sunrise and sunset. When anger has to be explicitly shown in the close-up face, red is the light which has a cascading effect to convey the message of the character.
For the audience
The pandemic put a spoke in Ravi’s career. “Compared to the days of 42 sabhas (then), now you have just a baker’s dozen. Work has dried up due to the LED factor. But I am not complaining as youngsters have taken up the mantle. They have a future and my doors are ever open for the young talents to learn the tricks of the trade. The play can have a dull moment but the light man can ill afford to. That is the buzz and catch word of the profession,” he says.
Not one to have taken note and stock of all his work, Ravi says there was not a troupe which he did not work with since his start as a child actor in Vikramadithyan, a play by the late actor SV Sahasranamam. “My mother aspired me to become an actor but it was destiny to leave my mark as a backstage technician,” he says.
Awards from Mylapore Academy, Hamsadhwani and a few others had been the oxygen for Ravi, seeing it as worth in crores. “At the end of the day, it is the audience approbation which technicians long for. It does not matter if the thunder was meant for the artistes concerned but heart of heart we know that a job has been well done. The beauty is in the audience not seeing us and blissfully unaware of the hand behind the success of a scene. A victory has been seen as collective is my way of surmising the effect,” he explains.
Pondering over goof-ups, Ravi recalls a moment in the play Krishna Leela where he failed to show the moon first, which that particular scene demanded. “It is all about application and putting the mind over matter. In Shraddha’s Vadavudayan, there was the shot of Manickavasagar kneeling before Lord Shiva. Amid the branch of trees, the gleam had to reflect with all its power. The audience clapped long enough ensuring a delay in the start of the next scene. These are poignant and keepsake moments for a technician. I would not have swapped that for any cash award,” he shares.
Till last year, where Ravi designed for six plays in the much-looked-forward-to Kodai Nataka Vizha, the 65-year-old is not short of work. As a night watchman in Mylapore Fine Arts Club, Ravi says he is able to pull on but just barely.
Ravi longs for the day when Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nadaga Manram would implement the schemes envisaged and announced for the stage technicians. “It does not matter if I do not end up as the beneficiary. Chief Minister MK Stalin understands the travails of the lesser privileged ones in the art world. A small monthly pension would go a long way to drive out the wolves. This is on behalf of my ilk, languishing behind the curtains with no face to show in front,” Ravi winds up with his characteristic smile in place. Like they say, there is light at the end of the tunnel.