A dark star shines on the stage whether it is a Shakespearean play by ‘Magic Lantern’ or an Avvai drama by a local troupe.

We are familiar only with the old hunchback Avvai, a staunch devotee of Lord Muruga, not with the modern youthful Avvai who sang and danced around. This Avvai was played by Archana, daughter of K V R, one of the great drama artistes of Tamil Nadu.

This is a time when modern drama artistes are moving slowly towards cinema...We asked Archana whether she would act if she got an opportunity...

“It is a healthy aspect that at present Tamil cinema’s eyes are set on modern drama artistes. But I don’t dream about such chances or opportunities. Where is the hope for a Tamil-speaking, uncompromising, dark girl? Kodambakkam doesn’t like dark girls, but only Bollywood faces,” says Archana.

She is not only a modern drama artiste but she flies to America to take part in discussions about the minute aspects of stage settings in Berkeley and MIT colleges.

Though she has acted in the TV serials of director Balu Mahendra’s ‘Kadhai Neram’ (Story Time) and K Balachander’s ‘Micro Thodar’, she is not interested in the title, “mega serial actress” of the small screen.

She feels proud to have acted in the short films of Arunmozhi’s ‘Vittu Viduthalaiyagi’ and Lenin’s ‘Oorukku Nooru Per’.

She further says, “There is a separate crowd which enjoys drama abroad. Even financially, the drama artistes are doing better. In Bollywood, the biggest movie producers in the world and top actors help in the growth of drama by acting in them. There, drama is the mother of cinema but here it is given the place of stepmother. Kodambakkam does not help new-age dramas or experimental dramas, in any way. Some actors, with their cinema image, somehow manage to stage comedy plays,” she reasons

“As a working artiste, I feel sad that one cannot survive here by just acting in dramas,” she adds frankly.

She has set her mind on changing all this. To give drama its rightful place in the world of entertainment: “I am thinking of approaching schoolchildren, to inculcate an interest in dramas right from childhood.”

If that gives you ideas that she is going to play a different role hereafter, you are wrong. “Right now stage drama is my priority. I am not going to think of marriage till I find someone to my liking.”

Ravi Kumar
Tr. by Radha N.