CHENNAI : Who is the only actress to have played the role of mother, sister and wife to the famed dramatist RS Manohar? The answer is simple to the die-hard fans of the legendary actor. Septuagenarian TR Latha, part of every play of Manohar, had the privilege to have rubbed shoulders with a brand name, whose passion for theatre is beyond words to comprehend.
Rewinding her endearing journey in a world where she was pitchforked in, Latha, who hails from Tiruchy, admits that studies took a back seat for her. But she also acknowledges, “The best thing that happened when the family moved to Chennai was getting under the wings of Manohar. The two decades were a golden phase, to the extent that no drama of Manohar was complete without me playing the parallel lead.”
Out of the lot, Latha picked Indrajith as a masterpiece, a play that was contributed by KP Arivandhanam. She goes on, “Knowing Manohar’s penchant for razor sharp dialogues, the writer crafted a masterpiece getting into the intricacies of the plot. Lakshmanan’s intelligence in turning into a new avatar to see the end of Indrajit was vividly brought out by the pen of KP sir.”
She recalls how Manohar was game to leave the centre stage to her where she played his wife. The climax was all hers, unable to suppress the grief, the emotions were reflected in the body language. As Latha puts it, “To this date, the character is remembered for its punchlines, more so in the no-holds-barred execution act.”
Moments of nostalgia
Feeling nostalgic, Latha shares the effect of Soorpanagai character in Elangeswaran, where she used her charm to mesmerise Lord Rama but to no effect. “Contrary to the mistaken notion, Soorpanagai had a pristine charm with her nose as the stand-up factor. Many eyebrows were raised when Seetha was shown as Ravanan’s daughter but writer Thurayur Murthy substantiated with facts,” she shares. This act, definitely, arouse curiosity in the audience, having divided opinion.
Latha played dual characters with utmost grace and precision. On donning the character of Menaka in the play Viswamitrar, she says, “With beauty as the weapon, Menaka ties the knot with Vishwamitra. The next challenge was to play the character of the daughter, Shakuntala, raised by sage Kanwa and wedded to Dushyanta, the king of Hastinapur.
The two contrasting characters, from chalk to cheese, had the audience rooting for me in repeated shows. The live interaction with the audience is a god-sent opportunity. Nothing else could have matched that satisfaction.” This was the era when there was a great respect for artistes and audience members would wait in a long queue after every show.
Diving deep into the characters
She went bonkers for the presentation of the character Roshana in the play Chanakiya Sabatham, who is head over heels in love with Chandragupta. Her father Chanakyan is aware of that but perturbed as the emperor is an enemy out to capture the Kingdom. Latha says that the father-daughter duel was filled with dialogues, each aware of the other’s intention but not in a position to budge an inch. She describes, “The gathering loved every bit of the action — the proverbial saying of the pen being mightier than the sword stood out in every frame.”
In the plays, Sukracharya Part 1 and 2, Latha saw that the way she played out the characters Viswashi and Kachadevayani was a moment to cherish in the way the war between the Devas and the Asuras was brought out to a discerning audience.
The story of Kacha, the son of the guru of devas Brishapati, learning the Sanjivani Mantra from asura guru Shukracharya is a popular mythological story. While Kacha goes to learn from the revered sage without raising any suspicion, he loses his heart to Shukracharya’s daughter Devayani, when he lived with them to learn the mantra. Devayani was also determined to marry him. This gave rise to a lot of jealousy and contempt on the part of the other asuras.
As Devayani, Latha was determined to go full blast and lend the requisite authenticity to the character. Latha recalls, “The challenging aspect was to keep her love under wraps from the prying eyes of the asuras. It did not help matters that they were already suspicious of Kacha, fearing that he may learn the secrets of the Sanjivani Mantra by tricking Shukracharya.”
While Latha grabbed the spotlight in most of the plays, sometimes even in the limited footage she had, she made a mark. She talks about her act in Ottakuthar, where she played the flower vendor Kannamma. “The raving media reviews praised the ease with which Kannamma strode along harping the message that flower is the best mode for the poor to spread happiness all over,” she recalls with pride.
In all her acts with Manohar, Latha has had the good fortune to observe the dramatist at work first-hand. Fondly remembering the role she played in Soorapadman of coy Padmakomalai, wife of Soorapadman, she says, “It was a treat to watch Manohar from the vantage position, where the legend thundered in his imitable style to grant him a boon of living for 108 yugas and reign over 1,008 worlds. As the doting wife, all I had to do was support him to the hilt. No feat could be impossible for a man when he could bank on so much support from close quarters, was the media acknowledgement.”
Feeling content with her theatrical experiences and learnings with Manohar, Latha winds up, “There is no room for a second innings in other troupes, though offers are still trickling in. The drama buffs aver that there can be only one Manohar and one Latha. Could I have asked for more?”