KOZHIKODE: Unfazed by coordinated social media attacks and selective moral policing, the Kozhikode-based Chilanka Floating Theatre troupe is standing firmly behind their controversial production ‘Misa: The Last Breath’.
The political documentary play, which chronicles state terror, political resistance, and imprisonment and torture of theatre activist Snehalatha Reddy during the 1975 Emergency, became the target of online harassment over the dressing of the female protagonist after video clips featuring lead actor Chinnoos Chilanka were circulated online following a stage performance. Opponents deliberately stripped the original background narration from the footage, overlaid it with vulgar tracks, and used the edited clips to ignite a campaign of moral outrage.
Refusing to yield to online intimidation, Chinnoos, – a BA English graduate from Kozhikode who serves as the troupe’s secretary, lead actor, and stage manager – viewed it not as a personal insult, but as a deliberate attempt to suppress the play’s political weight. Having turned theatre into her profession through the troupe founded by her father in 2001, Chinnoos exposed the blatant gender bias and moral hypocrisy underlying the outrage.
“In this very same play, our friend playing George Fernandes, Adarsh, performs wearing only underwear. The director appears on stage as Sanjiv Bhatt wearing just a pair of trousers, with his torso fully visible. That is not an issue for them. That is why I say this is moral policing driven by moral hypocrisy. I am a successor to Safdar Hashmi and Snehalatha Reddy, and I will continue to take the stage as Snehalatha Reddy and Bilkis Bano.”
Chinnoos noted that the play had been staged across eight previous venues over three months without issue before targeted attacks began following its performance at the DYFI state conference venue in Thrissur on August 17.
She insisted that altering the script to appease critics would betray both her craft and historical truth.
“In her Prison Diary, Snehalatha Reddy explicitly wrote how female prisoners, including herself, were stripped nude and tortured. Removing that portrayal would be doing injustice to her. If anyone demands that we alter our performance, we would rather not perform than compromise our play,” Chinnoos said.
Echoing her resolve, troupe director and founder Bichoos Chilanka, an artiste with over three decades in theatre, maintained that the production will proceed exactly as written.
“We first performed MISA at Kattal Book Festival & Cultural Fest in Kattakada and received a positive reception. When we performed at Kadakkal bus stand in Kollam, most of the people who got emotional and cried were the headload workers there. In the end, they spent their own money to buy us food and honoured us with ponnaada. Yet, some are only looking with vulgar eyes,” Bichoos said. Refusing to back down, the troupe is fully prepared for their upcoming Friday performance at Thrissur same venue.
MISA, a political documentary play, chronicles state terror, political resistance, and imprisonment and torture of theatre activist Snehalatha Reddy during the 1975 Emergency.
It became the target of online harassment over the dressing of the female protagonist after video clips featuring lead actor Chinnoos Chilanka were circulated online following a stage performance
