His role as the lone hunchback in the play ‘Koonan’ brought tears to many. Theatre artist Manjulan, who shot to fame with the one-act play once again enraptured the theatre, but this time as the director of the play ‘Mazhapattu’.
Mazhapattu set in a rural backdrop eulogises the greatness of the agrarian culture that we once had. Elaborating on the storyline, Manjulan says, “The play has a hero and a heroine, a husband and wife, who lead a meagre life. Husband is a laidback soul, who makes his wife do the whole chores and lives in her expenditure. Inorder to make him understand her struggles, wife asks him to leave the house. The husband who sets off from his native village for the first time wanders around the world. He meets diverse people and understands diverse cultures. He understands what life, man and nature is. He understands his wife in a more better way and returns back as a changed person.”
“Every person has a dual personality. The person whom we accuse of several traits may not always behave in the same way. The characters of the play undergo several changes in the behavioural pattern, the major challenge that the actors have to confront,” says Manjulan.
He adds that the central theme of the play is the significance of diligence. “We have taken an attempt to bring to the fore the lives of the rural folk who toiled day and night in the field to look after their family and the values that they hold,” he says.
Since the play ends on a positive note, we gave the title ‘Mazhapattu’, says Manjulan. “Enjoying the rain is a beautiful feeling and one can sing along with the downpour only if he is happy,” observes he.
This is the first show of the play. The uniqueness of the play that was staged by Kanal Theatre Group in Thiruvali village in Nilampoor is that the whole cast and crew, except Manjulan, belong to the village.
“30 people from the village have associated with this play. Infact this play, that utilises the talent of several people of the village, is all about their oneness.”
The screenplay of ‘Mazhapattu’ is by Jayaprakash Kuloor.