Bitten by theatre bug

M

udradi, at the foothills of Western Ghats in Udupi district, is drawing attention of the theatre buffs from far and wide in recent years.  Thanks to the activities of Nama Tuluver Kala (Natka) Sanghatane, this otherwise non-descript remote village has emerged a prominent spot on the theatre map of Karnataka.  Not confining itself to Tulu, as the name connotes, it has brought on stage several acclaimed Kannada plays.

     Way back in 1985, Dharmayogi Mohan, a culture enthusiast, founded Nilayada Kalavidaru, a forum for cultural activities at Mudradi.  It was mostly Yakshagana in those days. On the occasion of its decennial year, Nilayada Kalavidaru was rechristened as Nama Tuluver Kala Sanghatane, Natka.  The organization that made a humble beginning has grown leaps and bounds in these 33 years of its existence. 

     Initially there used to be a single drama in a year.  Later a nine-day theatre festival Navarangotsava was started during Navaratri at the abode of Goddess Adishakti founded and managed by Dharmayogi Mohan.  On the occasion of its twentieth anniversary, Nama Tuluver created a record of sorts by staging 24 plays in 20 days.

     Mudradi Rashtreeya Rangotsava is an annual event since its silver jubilee.  The week-long national-level theatre festival has featured dramas in languages like Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Konkani besides Kannada and Tulu.  Many theatre veterans from across the country are recognized and honoured with awards on the occasion.

     The amateur troupe has taken its plays to Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Dubai and many other places and brought plays from various parts of the country to Mudradi as well. It has staged around 40 dramas in around 1,500 shows so far. Besides many dramas being staged hundreds of times, the Tulu play Pilipatti Gadas alone has been staged 390 times. The prizes won at various drama completions by Natka touch the mark of 200.  Sukumar Mohan, who heads Natka, has been honoured with CGK Award and Suvarna Ranga Samman.

     The team is ecstatic about its feat at the recently concluded Kuvempu Memorial Drama Competition in Mumbai. It presented Dashanana Swapnasiddhi, a theatre adaptation of the last part of Kuvempu’s Jnanpith Award winning work Sri Ramayana Darshanam. The drama, directed by Manjunatha L. Badiger, won the second place and the outstanding efforts fetched it prizes for direction, acting both male and child categories, music, costume and lighting. 

     The speciality of the troupe is that the entire Mohan family is into the field of drama. Dharmayogi Mohan’s four children Sukumar Mohan, Sugandhi Kalmady, Surendra Mohan and Sudhindra Mohan and their respective spouses Vani Sukumar, Umesh Kalmady, Pavithra Surendra and Poornima Sudhindra have embraced theatre and turned out excellent performers. Now even the third generation, the little Swastik and Swarnika, is taking baby steps into the world of theatre. Theatre is the mainstay and the common thread that binds the family.

Though none have any academic training in the field, they grew from drama to drama under the watchful eyes of the directors like Shreepada Bhat, Prasanna Heggodu, Krishnamurthy Kavatthar, Bhasuma Kodagu, Jeevanaram Sullia, Pramod Shiggaon Udyavara Nagesh Kumar, C Basavalingayya, Sheena Nadoli, Gururaj Marpalli, Manjunath L Badiger, Dakshayini Bhat and Mallikarjuna Mahamane The interest of the Mohan family has rubbed off on the youngsters of the neighbourhood. They too are part of the troupe now that comprises around 18 members. In fact, Nama Tuluver has brought out the theatre culture in this part.

     Sukumar Mohan, also a former member of the Karnataka Nataka Academy, admits the activities are not self-sustaining. “The occasional funds from government or otherwise are not sufficient for the scale of events that we organize”, says Sukumar.  But nothing comes in the way of their passion. As the activities grew, Natka felt the need to have an auditorium. Hence came up an open-air auditorium Chowtara Bayalu at Mudradi at a cost of around Rs. 60 lakh.

     Natka organizes training programmes for students and theatre workshops. Many activities related to drama are held at frequent intervals. It has acted in many street plays bringing awareness on social issues. Natka has also conducted CGK drama competition and a children’s drama festival. Sukumar has plans to tour various places with two dramas every year.  

     Well-known artistes such as Hamsalekha, H S Shivaprakash, B Jayashree, Yenagi Balappa, Master Hirannayya, Nagendra Shah and Mukhyamantri Chandru who have been invited on various occasions have appreciated the dedicated theatre activities at the far-flung Mudradi. The theatre activities of Natka are so intense that Mudradi Grama Panchayat has named the area Natkadur. Perhaps a rare affirmation and recognition to a theatre group anywhere else.

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