Centuries of India’s independence struggle saw the emergence of freedom fighters across regions, languages, and landscapes. While figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhas Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, and Rani Lakshmi Bai occupy the centre of historical memory, resistance leaders from small towns and districts were often reduced to footnotes, if mentioned at all. In Tamil Nadu, that silence surrounds the Marudhu Pandiyar — Periya Marudhu and Chinna Marudhu of Sivagangai — who waged sustained armed resistance against the British in the late 18th century. Allied with Rani Velu Nachiyar, they practiced early guerrilla warfare, challenged colonial authority for years, and paid for it with their lives, long before freedom had a national vocabulary.
It is this historical erasure that drives the dance-musical theatre production Marudhiruvar, making its Chennai premiere on Saturday at Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall. Marking his 30th production, choreographer and composer Madurai R Muralidharan’s decision to step away from his usual mythological narratives and turn to history was neither incidental nor experimental. He says it has been “a long dream to do this (Marudhiruvar) production”.
Marudhiruvar is conceived, choreographed, and directed by Muralidharan, who has also handled the lyrics, music, and screenplay, and plays the role of Periya Marudhu. He is assisted in choreography and direction by Kavya Muralidharan and Chithra Muralidharan. Kavya plays the role of Rani Velu Nachiyar, while Shivakumar plays Chinna Marudhu.
The Marudhu brothers, Muralidharan insists, were far from peripheral figures. “They were the first freedom fighters from Tamil Nadu, and they were experts in valari – a very dangerous weapon. For almost 16 years, the British government was not able to catch them,” he says. Their resistance was sustained, strategic, and rooted in a deep knowledge of land and movement, methods that would later be described as guerrilla warfare.
Their story is inseparable from Rani Velu Nachiyar, under whom they served as commanders before being entrusted with the rule of Sivagangai. “Rani Velu Nachayar is also the first female freedom fighter from here [Tamil Nadu],” Muralidharan says, placing her within an earlier, often overlooked lineage of anti-colonial resistance.
The production is anchored in almost a year of research. One of the most striking sources came from the colonisers themselves. “I took reference from a book called The War Memories, written by General Welsh, the one who shot Chinna Marudhu at the end of the story,” Muralidharan recounts. He adds that the General considered the brothers his gurus, having learnt war practices from them. On stage, this irony becomes structural. “The way I prepared this dance drama is that in every scene, General Welsh comes in as a narrator and explains what happened,” he notes.
While the narrative is firmly rooted in Tamil history, the form draws from global influences. “I was inspired by the Broadway-style musicals like The Lion King, Cinderella, and Aladdin. When I saw The Lion King musical in New York for the first time, they were doing mass productions with small stories and perfection,” he says. That influence shapes Marudhiruvar as a music-driven, visually expansive dance-musical rather than a conventional historical retelling.
The most visible expression of this approach is the title track, recorded with the Budapest Orchestra. "Almost 85 artistes played for the title song. I wanted a grand intro. If you give notation to someone in Budapest, they don’t care whether it is North Indian music or Carnatic music. They took just 20 minutes to finish that piece. I had never this experience here,” he says, describing the collaboration as both efficient and transformative. The ensemble with multi-cultural music exhibits dances like Bharatanatyam, Kathak, and others representing the character's background.
Yet beneath the scale and spectacle lies a deeply personal impulse. Muralidharan recalls learning about the Marudhu Pandiyar not from textbooks, but through family members who took him to historical sites in Sivagangai. “This history is hidden. This has to come out, and the younger generation should realise what powerful people they were, protecting our country against the British. They should know the history, at least now,” he emphasises.
Marudhiruvar will be staged at Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall, Chetpet, on February 7, at 6 pm. Tickets are available on MDND.