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Preserving
the art of storytelling!
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Cinema
is the highest evolved art form that exists today.
Cinema is indeed the most complete form of story
telling, bringing alive all the events of a story
on a screen. It is a beautiful and complex amalgamation
of art and technology which cannot be matched
by any other art form at the moment. But, cinema
is not a stand alone art form. It was not created
out of thin air, nor did it evolve on its own.
Cinema is an evolutionary product of centuries
of art which began with dance and music. Dance
and music were later used as mediums to narrate
stories in a fairly simple and sometimes symbolic
manner. Dance and music, combined with literature
gave us a more realistic and communicative way
of story telling, theater. And, it is from theater
that cinema finally took shape.
So, if we tend to overlook other art forms, especially
theater, in favor of cinema, it is equivalent
to forgetting ones roots. When T20 took the cricketing
world by storm, we heard many cricketing pundits
crying hoarse about preserving the purity of the
game by maintaining test
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cricket
as the highest form of the game. Similarly, theater
too must get its share of importance and significance
if we wish to retain the subtle, but supremely important
facet of cinema, narration.
Technology and all other aspects are only supporting
elements of cinema, the heart still remains narration
through a script of strength and substance. Theater
is the art form where scripting and acting are practiced
in their purest forms, without any aid from camera,
dubbing, editing etc., which is why it is important
to keep it alive.
Yes, theater still does exist. There are a number of
theater groups in India which present both English and
regional language plays. Almost everyone in Chennai
would have heard of Evam, which is quite famous in the
city. And, it was common knowledge in Chennai tat last
Monday, a play written by the Chief Minister ‘Poovithazhum
Porvaalum’ was staged in the city. And even this
week, various plays like the one written by Girish Karnad,
directed by famous adman Alyque Padamsee and having
Shabhana Azmi in the lead, are about to be performed
in the city. And, most of you might also be aware of
the Playwright contest that is held every year by the
Hindu. Yet, one gets the feeling that there is almost
too little importance being given to theater.
Perhaps we have to take lead from USA and the UK where
theater still exist as a major, and more importantly,
economically viable art form. The Broadway shows are
still a huge draw in New York. There are great plays
that have been performed continuously for over 50 years
– Agatha Christies ‘The Mousetrap’
and musicals that have been around for nearly 30 years,
‘The Phantom of the Opera’. The fact is
that these plays are being performed and re-interpreted
even today for the young generation to get a taste of
theater. But, can we point out to any such instance
in the Indian industry. We have had many great plays
down the years. But, are they still enacted for the
people to experience theater. Plays once put to rest
remain so forever in India. That is because of the absence
of a solid theater system and a group of theaters and
more importantly, artistes who are willing to give their
full time dedication to theater. That in turn is because
of the economic instability of the industry.
Broadway production have leant a lot to Hollywood in
terms of content and music. Long running Broadway shows
have been made into films, like Chicago and Phantom
of the Opera, both of which were successes.
Even in India, other states have a slightly better theater
system wherein big names are consistently, if not constantly,
involved in theater, like Anupam Kher, Naseeruddin Shah
etc. in the North. Down South, Malayalam superstars
Mohanlal and Mammootty too have been involved in theater
over the years. One of Mohanlal’s plays ‘Karnabharam’
was in Sanskrit and there was another which was based
on 100 characters of Malayalam literature ‘Kathayattam
while the latest effort, along with actor Mukesh, titled
Chayamukhi, is an epic drama. In Kerala, leading film
artistes like the Late Murali and now Mukesh have been
active members of the Sangeetha Nataka Academy.
Such institutions, sadly, remain, much like their name,
academic. Theater and drama, need to be revived from
their mere academic status and brought out more into
people so that the purest form of story telling be preserved.
And, for that to happen, the most popular and most highly
evolved art form, cinema, must lend a hand and some
time. In the long run, it is cinema which will be benefited.
(By
Sudhakar, with inputs from Arun.)
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