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CHO’ The Man Who 'Acts' Too Much
 Priya Cultural Academy – LVe Creators are jointly presenting a series of eight ‘CHO’ dramas, during weekends, at the
Narada Gana Sabha Hall from last week. This mega-presentation is in the context of
CHO’s Viveka Fine Arts Golden Jubilee Year (1954-2004).
The significant feature of these dramas is, as playwright director-actor
‘CHO’ himself stressed, though these were written and staged decades ago, not a single letter of the script had been required to be changed today, ‘thanks’ to our politicians, who have not changed at all!
And, therefore, CHO’s dramas have perennial contemporaneous relevance. Politics is no longer the last refuge of scoundrels, it is the first, to quote senior
Election Commission officials. However, the other side of CHO's dramas is, they glide over the duck back or buffalo skins of politics' practitioners, effectlessly, effortlessly. All the same, by laughing ceaselessly and to our heart’s content, we derive vicarious satisfaction over the merciless and systematic peeling of the true nature of politicians.
CHO lives, in his plays, the role of all types of scoundrels and hypocrites in all fields of human activity. His true-to life character sketches are his real strength and our spontaneous appreciation, our weakness. His motto seems to be the the Gita doctrine: ‘Do thy duty, do not concern thyself with the results thereof!’ (Ch II.47). And, therefore, he persists with his razor-sharp jibes and cuts and thrusts. Someday, even politicians may ‘suffer’ enlightenment, who knows? We must wait and hope, along with ‘CHO’ . As Hanuman would say in the
Ramayana (CHO has analytically translated the
Valmiki Ramayana, as also the
Mahabharata) hope, and enthusiastic, unflagging, positive effort are vital for life’s sustenance. As long as there is life, there
would always be hope and vice versa.
CHO’s play ‘Saathirangal Sonnathillai’ (the scriptures did not aver so), staged on Saturday evening picturised, graphically, the character-sketch of a hypocrite
brahmin, orthodox, venerable scholar who, in short, could not practise what he preached. He advocates lofty principles but cannot measure up to them in his own life-contexts. Chariar, the Vaishnavite scholar, is led to believe that his own son, Paachu is, by birth, of a lower caste, and that his real son is being brought up in a lower caste family. His behaviour patterns change from then on. This is the crunch and crux of the play’s story. The characterisation is just too good and lays bare human foibles, inconsistencies and hypocritical nature forcefully.
CHO’s younger brother Rajagopal (founder of the Viveka Fine Arts), as Niranjan, whose Malapropian Tamil pronunciations and diction provoke good-natured mirth, Neelu, as the Doctor, who skins alive Chariar’s true character, and other die-hard characters weave together the fine fabric of the dynamic presentation. I have witnessed this play decades ago, and yet the play did not ‘stale’. For all practical purposes, it was a new presentation. CHO is now a septuagenarian (almost, perhaps) and yet has the infectious enthusiasm of a 17-year old youngster! His plays must be constantly rejuvenating him. His characters in real life continue to laugh behind his back (as we do in the auditorium) and go their own well-beaten path, sans care, sans even a moment of pertinent introspection. Let us wait & hope, someday things will change for the better. Some hope, of course!
R. Srinivasan
Ph: 24355576
r_seema30@hotmail.com
Published on 3rd
June 2004
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