KOCHI: “On 28th May 1964, the day after the passing away of Jawaharlal Nehru, he set out on a crowded train from Thrissur to Delhi for admission to the National School of Drama. In search of the endless possibilities of theatre, the 19-year-old youth from Kerala reached the National School of Drama,” notes one scene in the documentary Kumaraparvam directed by Mahesh Panju.
The documentary which revolves around the thespian Kumara Varma, a theatre director who has directed 36 Indian and Western plays over the last five decades, talks about his memories and glorious moments, right from the time he stepped into the National School of Drama (NSD) and his life from thereon. Born and brought up in Mavelikkara, Varma, who had a keen interest in acting and literature, joined NSD after his under graduation from Kerala Varma College Thrissur.
Varma belonged to theatre director and drama teacher Ebrahim Alkazi’s third batch of students in 1964. The 1-hour-16-minute documentary then takes viewers to the other phase of his life when he stepped inside the Indian theatre department of Punjab University, the place he describes as home.
“Varma is a prominent theatre personality alive in Kerala today. He lived in Punjab for 35 years. So in our state, he may not be as famous as Kavalam Narayana Panicker. But the documentary will help people know more about him,” says director Mahesh.
After studying drama, Varma returned to Kerala and in 1968, he joined Kavalam Narayana Panicker’s drama troupe and made his debut in the Malayalam drama, ‘Sakshi’.His tryst with Malayalam plays doesn’t end there. In 1978, he directed Kavalam’s play ‘Ottayan.’ Varma never confined himself to the role of a director, he later produced G Shankara Pillai’s “Bandi” and C M Srikantan Nair’s, ‘Saketam.’
According to Mahesh, after Kavalam’s play, Varma gave up indigenous drama. “After returning to Chandigarh, he became a fan of Bertolt Brecht and started doing works in his style. However, in 2012, he directed another Malayalam play ‘Begum Panikkar’ for Kalady University. Mahesh claims that the documentary can be used as study material for theatre students and drama lovers. It covers every aspect of the 80-year-old’s life, who now lives in Tripunithura.