Theatre lovers will continue to promote stage plays, Hrudayaraj exudes confidence

Vijayawada: "Theatre is not only entertainment dais but also it spreads knowledge, ethics and values. Theatre is also a science that to be learned from a Guru. Unfortunately, the Telugu theatre is not having the strong 'Guru-Sishya' relation. The Telugu theatre is not growing on par with neighbouring states because there is no commitment and accountability for both the artistes and also the audience," said the senior-most stage, TV and movie artiste, writer and director Ananta Hrudayaraj in an open interaction with 'The Hans India'.

Hrudayaraj started his dramatic career 55 years back and acted in a number of plays during his career. He penned dramas like 'swatantraporatam', 'Swarna Kamalam'. 'Adalath, 'Amma', 'Am aha', 'Nishi', 'You too Brutus', 'Kali', 'Hari Villu', 'Addaniki venaka', 'Agni chera', 'Anveshita' and also number of radio plays. All his works will depict the values and traditions to be followed in a society and also thought-provoking. He will deal with the subject from roots to end. His dramas tell of love and affection between two individuals which depict society.

"I am running 71 years now yet I will run and continue without any break on sets. But I will feel lazy and feel sick, if I don't have any work. I feel artistes and writers don't feel the age problem," Hrudayaraj said.

Hridayaraj was active in PrajaNatyaMandali since 1974 and also discharged the duties as general secretary for Vijayawada branch effectively. During his tenure, many teams from other states were invited to perform in Andhra Pradesh. Some of the plays were also translated into Telugu and staged by the Praja Natya Mandali under his guidance.

His intention is that society should be happy to smile forever. All his writings emphasise these points mostly.

"Yesteryears scripts used to give some motivation to society as well as for family to solve the problems. However, those scripts never deviated from the morals and ethical values, which are basics for a drama. That's the reason the old scripts are still remembered. A vast development has taken place in theatre throughout the world both in concepts and also in the technology.

But the Telugu drama is fixed to a frame and not coming out from it. In other words, I feel we are watching seasonal dramas all the time, which contains unsolved problems. Moreover, some scripts are throwing the problems to the audience for salvation.

The neighbouring states are coming with excellent and innovative concepts still we are lingering in a traditional circle with melodrama formula. It is very pathetic to state that for the last many years the Telugu drama was not selected for any international drama festival. I request the artistes, directors and writers please think for the reasons," he expressed his frank opinion.

While discussing the present Covid-19 situation, Hrudayaraj said that during this horrible pandemic period the world has become self-centred and society is not thinking about any activity except struggling for their survival.

In this situation, it is the foremost duty of the artistse and writers to rebuild the cultural building on the foundations available for the future generations. This is the right time for the writers to come up with new concepts which involved entertainment-based thought-provoking subjects to regain the attention of the audience.

"The amateur artistes are surviving in the present system because drama is his part time hobby, whereas the professional artiste is in confusion because they don't know any other work except acting. I hope the artiste community should think for community survival in the present hard days and also for future.

Drama was mostly patronised by the public and the portion of government is very less. I have strong hope that the same theatre lovers will again support and patronise to promote drama in future also to reach high standards," Hrudayaraj hopefully concluded the chat.