Theatre thespian's family is planning to stage his plays in coming monthsThe very thought of R S Manohar brings to mind his cold, villainous stare and threatening voice that even today can send chills down the spine. His screen presence was such that even heroes would appear diminutive. But those familiar with him would also remember that the thespian did many comedy roles too. The range of his characters on screen probably had a lot to do with his exposure as an actor on stage.
Manohar's love was more in theatre there he had the freedom to create. The epics he staged and the clever special effects he brought to the stage were a rage in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. And to honour him on his 92nd birth anniversary, which falls on June 29, his nephew S Shivpprasadh plans to carry forward his legacy by staging some of the plays R S Manohar, who died in 2006, acted in.
"His characters used to be so real that he could make you love it or hate it," says Shivpprasadh and recalls how family members came up with a plan to make Manohar's mother leave the hall so she didn't see the last scene of 'Narakasuran' in which Narakasuran is killed and he makes a wish to Lord Krishna that all people should celebrate his death as Diwali. The scene was so poignant that it was feared that his mother wouldn't be able to bear it. In a turn of fate his mother was hospitalised the previous day due to some ailment. But the scene was indeed powerful. After seeing the play, actor Gemini Ganesan rang up Manohar and said "RSM I can't bear to see you die before me even on screen", recalls Shivpprasadh.
The ones in the offing are 'Kadaga Mutharaiyan', 'Siripikku Panjamillai', 'Sri Ranga Ranganatharin Mahimai' and 'Puttaparthi sai Baba'. The R S Manohar special effects that were such a big draw decades ago are now very easy to do, says Shivaprasadh. "His devotion and dedication to give his best and also bring out the best from his accompanying artists raised the standard of Tamil theatre", says Shivpprasadh. Through his plays, Manohar projected the rich cultural heritage of the land as he covered a plethora of topics from social dramas to historical plays to mythological stories. Manohar had more than 7,900 shows to his credit. His biggest innovation was introduction of dramascope with stereophonic sound system, says his nephew.
But despite his passion and efforts to modernise theatre, Manohar's drama troupe National Theatres could not make enough money to keep the show going. Dividing his time between stage and screen was not easy. When Manohar gave callsheets to MGR and Sivaji, he made sure his dates never clashed with his drama rehearsals and shows, but big artists would often change the schedule. "Manohar could not keep his troupe members together. Since he never made money through plays he had to give preference to movies," says Shivpprasadh.
It was at this time of need when the drama troupe had almost packed up for good that Jayalalithaa, an ardent fan of Manohar, stepped in. "When Jayalalithaa was the CM of Tamil Nadu and she came to know that he had decided to shut his drama troupe, she asked to him stage the hit play 'Thirunavukkarasar' and offered financial support through the Tamil Nadu government's 'Eyal Isai Nataka Mandram'. It went on to run for at least 118 shows," says Shivpprasadh.
His play 'Lankeshwaran' faced flak from many because he had depicted Sita as Ravana's daughter.
But the Shankaracharya of Kanchi assured him that he was correct and asked him to continue staging the play.
Manohar may have played many negative roles but, in real life he was child-like, says Shivaprasadh. He believed in people at face value and lost his money as he trusted people easily. However, he had won many hearts through his kindness in the film industry.
Shivpprasadh says even today Manohar's mythological plays are popular as they educate children about our culture. While he eventually wants to recreate all the plays of Manohar with the best theatre actors in town, he is at present staging some of the main plays in Chennai sabhas. Such is the passion in the family that his daughter S Sruuthi is enacting the roles that were played by her grandfather Manohar.
"It runs in the blood, she can learn lengthy dialogues and carry herself with confidence in all the roles RSM did. We have preserved his ornaments and some of his sets too," he adds.