These Telugu plays are a hit with the audience

Two plays enacted at Ravindra Bharathi in Hyderabad on Sunday to promote Telugu dramas was a feast for the packed audience. The plays were staged by South Indian Cultural Association where directors Tallavajhula Sundaram and M Bhajarappa showered laughter in one of the plays and highlight social issues faced an orphaned woman in the other.

Vaarnee! Adaa Vishayam!

In the first play, Marthandam and Malleswari play a couple. Marthandam is very close to a lady friend and helps her financially. That raises Malleswari’s suspicion and vehemently demands her husband to recover the money forthwith. Under dire circumstances, Marthandam plays a melodrama with another character Srinu and demands Rs 1 lakh in return for providing him accommodation in a flat at a concessional rate. At this point, an unknown person who claims to be a police official snatches the amount paid by Srinu, stating that they are counterfeit notes.

The play ends with the word ‘Shubam’ by the father of Malleswari (a deaf person) who is unaware of the relative facts which left the audience in splits. Samatha as Malleswari, Phani Prakash as Marthandam and Y Srinivas as Srinu did justice to their characters. But speedy dialogue delivery by the three left the audience perplexed at times. This needs to be worked upon by the actors to ensure a good presentation. In the given circumstances Tallavajhula Sundaram showed maturity as a director.

Mathruka

Some social problems can be dealt with while others cannot and it all depends upon the mindset of the individual. Mathruka, presented by Siri Muvva Culturals, deals with societal issues of an orphaned woman who adopts a boy. Problems arise when the boy wishes to marry a girl of his choice. The bride’s father questions the antecedents of the boy and his parenthood. This worries the boy and mother. In between another person (Mohan) who intends to marry the mother in the guise of giving protection and settle the marriage the boy.

The play ends with the orphan boy being left alone while the mother takes an honorable service at the Mother Theresa Organisation. Surabhi Prabhavathi (mother), Manjunath (the boy), VSN Murthy (Mohan), Babai (Rama Sastry), Base Raghuram (P Ramakrishna Rao) and Ashok (Vasu) made an impressive and astute display. Being an elderly person, Babai could have acted sometimes in a sitting posture which gives some decorum to the character. Ravinuthala Prema Kishore, the writer, gave food for thought for the society.

By Chivukula Rama Mohan