Stage finds its star connect

Chennai: After bodybuilding, films and politics, Sarath Kumar has decided it’s time to add a little drama to his life. The action hero-turned-politician will be turning ‘sutradhar’ (narrator) for ‘ticklish’ Tanglish comedy ‘Wild Tales’ that will play out at the Music Academy on November 4.

"I’ve always wanted to try my hand at theatre, especially after I saw my daughter Varalakshmi in a musical a few years ago. But I never got cast. When this opportunity came, I grabbed it," says the 64-year-old who will make his stage debut 32 years after he first appeared on celluloid.

The actor says he sees theatre as the backbone of cinema, and hopes his move will encourage film stars to try the stage. "I feel if actors like me get involved, it may bring more people in," he says.

That’s precisely the marketing strategy director of ‘Wild Tales’ Sriram Jeevan has been trying since he co-founded his troupe Theatrekaran in 2016 — rope in celebrities to draw in larger crowds.

"We have had Super Singers and Indian Idol performers acting in our plays. This time, apart from Sarath Kumar, we have RJs like Giri and Shiva Shankari, who will bring in their own fan following for the play," he says. For an earlier production, the troupe collaborated with director Gautham Menon’s Ondraga Entertainment, which Sriram says brought a touch of "fanfare" to the play. "It added visibility to our group and because of Gautham Menon, more celebrities came for the show. For this play, we had 300 people signing up for auditions," says Sriram. "By roping in these personalities, we are also widening theatre-going audiences to include TV and film viewers," he says.

While Sarath Kumar is the newest entrant, several TV and film stars from the south have tried their hand at stage drama.

After her stint in movies, actor Suhasini Mani Ratnam has acted as well as directed plays, until as recently as 2016 when she directed the play ‘I’m an Actor Your Honour’. Her contemporary Revathi debuted on stage a decade ago, for a solo show in Chennai and Bengaluru, about how a middle class mother deals with her son’s sexuality. Malayalam actor Mohanlal has made several stage performances despite his hectic movie schedule. In 2010, for instance, he played the central role in Kalidasa’s classic ‘Vikramorvasheeyam’ directed by Kavalam Narayana Panikkar.

"I think as film actors we are comfortable on stage because we know what the audience expects," says Suhasini, who performed her monologue ‘Reading Between the Lines’ in five countries over 10 years. "The only tricky part is to remember the lines and that body language is key, which is something we tend to forget after years of acting in front of a camera," says Suhasini, adding that stage appeals to because of the "instant connect" it gives with the audience. "I’m still being approached with scripts for stage dramas but I’m waiting for one that truly fascinates me," she says.

Actor and director Madhuvanti Arun has been bringing in artists from TV serials to act in her plays for a while now. "Having a TV celebrity in a play piques the audiences’ curiosity about the show. I did a small bit in the TV serial ‘Vani Rani’ and more people are coming in for my dramas because of that role," says Madhuvanti, who for her latest Theatre of Maham production, ‘Kochikkaathu Ma’, has splashed the familiar TV actor Sairam’s face on all the posters.

N Kuppuraman, a regular at Maham productions, says he finds it exciting to see television artists in person. "I love watching plays, and sometimes go for the same one several times. Adding a TV personality is like incorporating a fresh element to the play," says Kuppuraman, who works with Perambur Carriage Works.

Actor Gowthami Vembunathan, who has just finished a couple of marathon stints on TV shows such as ‘Chandralekha’, decided she was going to take "time off" to do theatre. "I know the earnings from plays, if any, are poor, but there is a contentment one gets at the end of a play that acting on TV doesn’t give. In theatre, there are no prompts, retakes or rest between shots. The show must go on, and I love that feeling," she says.

For Gowthami — as with several other TV stars — the added attraction of the stage is the variety of characters they get to explore unlike on TV where they are mostly typecast. Gowthami for instance mostly plays the villain on telly. "On stage I am the lead, I am so many different people," she says. But while celebrities bring in the "face value" to a production, she says they also need to bring in "stage value". "If we’re bad actors, no amount of stardom will help."