Manohar's dramas will never be replicated. His plays were adaptations from the classics- the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Puranas and some from History. What set him apart was the unprecedented scale and the grandeur- the ability to package intricate plots with stunning visual effects on stage.
Manohar was the original anti-hero where he was always a Ravana, a Duryodhana or a Kamsa. He portrayed these characters convincingly and presented the familiar story as seen from the eyes of these dark characters. Good and bad got blurred in shades of grey and invariably, the anti-hero won our hearts and emerged taller than the heros we are traditionally used to. His plays generated debate and controversy; but never crossed the boundary to injure our sensibilities in any way.
As per hearsay, Manohar catapulted to fame with his portrayal of Ravana in the play "Lankeshwaran" in the late fifties-sixties. It upset the traditional minded and the matter was placed before the sage "paramacharya". Paramacharya had no objection to this new outlook and indicated that such adaptations had been done in the past. With the controversy quelled, Manohar's rise was meteoric.
Indian Standard Time allows us the license to show up for a party an hour late and still find that we are the first for the event! Manohar though, was a stickler for punctuality. If the drama was to begin at 7:00 pm at Shanmukhananda Hall, Mumbai, the curtains rose exactly on time. It was common knowledge and the hall overflowed with people and extra seats on the aisles were taken well before the stipulated time.
The costumes were elaborate -dazzling golden crowns, falling locks of hair, glittering necklaces, angavastra twirled stylishly over the forearm, pleated trousers (pancha-style) laced with gold and foot-wear to match a king. If Ravana held a bow, it was ornate and regal, far removed from the apologetic hunter's bow that some mythological characters have to hold onto.. on TV shows these days!
The light effects enhanced the magic. All dark... with just an arc of light on the protagonist- now red, now green, now a sombre yellow...the anti-hero's sollioquys, in a low baritone found powerful expression in this atmosphere. We empathized with his highs, his lows, his pain, his angst and the machinations of destiny which had perpetuated the crisis that he found himself in....
The scene settings were a class act. One moment...a village scene with a temple tower in the distance, a flowing brook, a few trees and bushes thrown in.. and naive pastoral people in the foreground; lights-off for 20 sec and we were right in the middle of a durbar hall with pillars, thrones, chandeliers, kings, ministers, courtiers and all associated the regal trappings.
And then, there were the "trick scenes" - where the arrows flew across the stage, uprooted Jayadratha's head and dropped it on his father's lap...where the streaks of lightning lit up night skies amidst torrential rain, where Shukracharya turned into a beetle and plugged the spout of Mahabali's kamandalu (a vessel), where waves lapped the shores of Lanka while Ravana watched the vanaras from the ramparts of his fort.... They were crafted with breathtaking artistry and executed with a magician's finesse right in front of our eyes!
Duryodhana, bruised and battered, writhed in pain and questioned an ever-smiling Krishna whether Bheema's below-the-belt attack was justified. As the curtains came down, it was normal to feel a lump in the throat. A traditional "aarti"(mangalam) ended the performance where Duryodhana rose up once more and posed with folded hands with all the artistes of the troupe neatly arrayed on stage. We looked forward to the aarti and felt glad that everything was actually fine with the anti-hero and he was in fact great friends with Krishna!
Manohar's dramas were truly "manohara"....mind-blowing!
P.S. Manohar, a trail-blazer in his own right, was often compared to "nawab" T.S Rajamanickam Pillai.... As per word of mouth, "nawab" was the original master of the mythological drama genre. He was well before our times.
Manohar's prominent dramas: Ilangeswaran, maaveeran kamsan, duryodhanan, chanakya-sapatham--- as chanakya, with dark skin and grotesque appearance, shukracharya- with a bruised eye, shiva-thandavam, tirumalai-nayakan, kumbhakarnan, indrajit, narakasuran, soorapadman, poet ottakutan and kadaka mutharayan in which he has a quaint make-up... sporting a turban and a little beard.
Manohar's protege was "Heron" Ramaswamy who later had his own drama troupe and regaled us with his set of plays- Alexander, valmiki, shanishwaran, yamadharman, kaliyugam pirandhadhu, poiyyamozhi and mahakavi bharatiyaar.
Sometimes, Manohar appeared in "civilian clothes" on TV or spoke at a function. We hated it and wouldn't believe that this most ordinary looking stranger in shirt and pant was the one who twitched his eyebrows, reeled out dialogues punctuated with a sinister laugh, and who strode the stage like a veritable colossus. The images just wouldn't match and we preferred to switch the TV off!
The plays had a little intermission. Charu and I would use the opportunity to dig into some pop-corn at the Shanmukhananda Hall canteen and would top it off with "beeda"- traditional paan with coconut filings also thrown in. We lugged a binocular as well and fought with each other to get a better view of the characters on stage!
In a way, Manohar's plays spoilt us. It rendered us incapable of watching "social dramas" which boasted of minimal props, common-place story line and everyday attire as costumes. Who wants to watch "theatre" which looks just like conversation at home!? Sadly, today, "social drama" is all that is left of "theatre":( We feel sorry for this generation.... They have truly missed something spectacular!
Manohar was the original anti-hero where he was always a Ravana, a Duryodhana or a Kamsa. He portrayed these characters convincingly and presented the familiar story as seen from the eyes of these dark characters. Good and bad got blurred in shades of grey and invariably, the anti-hero won our hearts and emerged taller than the heros we are traditionally used to. His plays generated debate and controversy; but never crossed the boundary to injure our sensibilities in any way.
As per hearsay, Manohar catapulted to fame with his portrayal of Ravana in the play "Lankeshwaran" in the late fifties-sixties. It upset the traditional minded and the matter was placed before the sage "paramacharya". Paramacharya had no objection to this new outlook and indicated that such adaptations had been done in the past. With the controversy quelled, Manohar's rise was meteoric.
Indian Standard Time allows us the license to show up for a party an hour late and still find that we are the first for the event! Manohar though, was a stickler for punctuality. If the drama was to begin at 7:00 pm at Shanmukhananda Hall, Mumbai, the curtains rose exactly on time. It was common knowledge and the hall overflowed with people and extra seats on the aisles were taken well before the stipulated time.
The costumes were elaborate -dazzling golden crowns, falling locks of hair, glittering necklaces, angavastra twirled stylishly over the forearm, pleated trousers (pancha-style) laced with gold and foot-wear to match a king. If Ravana held a bow, it was ornate and regal, far removed from the apologetic hunter's bow that some mythological characters have to hold onto.. on TV shows these days!
The light effects enhanced the magic. All dark... with just an arc of light on the protagonist- now red, now green, now a sombre yellow...the anti-hero's sollioquys, in a low baritone found powerful expression in this atmosphere. We empathized with his highs, his lows, his pain, his angst and the machinations of destiny which had perpetuated the crisis that he found himself in....
The scene settings were a class act. One moment...a village scene with a temple tower in the distance, a flowing brook, a few trees and bushes thrown in.. and naive pastoral people in the foreground; lights-off for 20 sec and we were right in the middle of a durbar hall with pillars, thrones, chandeliers, kings, ministers, courtiers and all associated the regal trappings.
And then, there were the "trick scenes" - where the arrows flew across the stage, uprooted Jayadratha's head and dropped it on his father's lap...where the streaks of lightning lit up night skies amidst torrential rain, where Shukracharya turned into a beetle and plugged the spout of Mahabali's kamandalu (a vessel), where waves lapped the shores of Lanka while Ravana watched the vanaras from the ramparts of his fort.... They were crafted with breathtaking artistry and executed with a magician's finesse right in front of our eyes!
Duryodhana, bruised and battered, writhed in pain and questioned an ever-smiling Krishna whether Bheema's below-the-belt attack was justified. As the curtains came down, it was normal to feel a lump in the throat. A traditional "aarti"(mangalam) ended the performance where Duryodhana rose up once more and posed with folded hands with all the artistes of the troupe neatly arrayed on stage. We looked forward to the aarti and felt glad that everything was actually fine with the anti-hero and he was in fact great friends with Krishna!
Manohar's dramas were truly "manohara"....mind-blowing!
P.S. Manohar, a trail-blazer in his own right, was often compared to "nawab" T.S Rajamanickam Pillai.... As per word of mouth, "nawab" was the original master of the mythological drama genre. He was well before our times.
Manohar's prominent dramas: Ilangeswaran, maaveeran kamsan, duryodhanan, chanakya-sapatham--- as chanakya, with dark skin and grotesque appearance, shukracharya- with a bruised eye, shiva-thandavam, tirumalai-nayakan, kumbhakarnan, indrajit, narakasuran, soorapadman, poet ottakutan and kadaka mutharayan in which he has a quaint make-up... sporting a turban and a little beard.
Manohar's protege was "Heron" Ramaswamy who later had his own drama troupe and regaled us with his set of plays- Alexander, valmiki, shanishwaran, yamadharman, kaliyugam pirandhadhu, poiyyamozhi and mahakavi bharatiyaar.
Sometimes, Manohar appeared in "civilian clothes" on TV or spoke at a function. We hated it and wouldn't believe that this most ordinary looking stranger in shirt and pant was the one who twitched his eyebrows, reeled out dialogues punctuated with a sinister laugh, and who strode the stage like a veritable colossus. The images just wouldn't match and we preferred to switch the TV off!
The plays had a little intermission. Charu and I would use the opportunity to dig into some pop-corn at the Shanmukhananda Hall canteen and would top it off with "beeda"- traditional paan with coconut filings also thrown in. We lugged a binocular as well and fought with each other to get a better view of the characters on stage!
In a way, Manohar's plays spoilt us. It rendered us incapable of watching "social dramas" which boasted of minimal props, common-place story line and everyday attire as costumes. Who wants to watch "theatre" which looks just like conversation at home!? Sadly, today, "social drama" is all that is left of "theatre":( We feel sorry for this generation.... They have truly missed something spectacular!
Manohar was superb and his presentations were matchless. He was second to only 'Nawab' Rajamanikkam, who was equally marvelous,but considering the time period in which he was operating, I would say that he was a notch better than Manohar. Bringing a motor car on to the stage during Dasavatharam was the height of it. 'Nawab' also played antihero roles most of the times like Kamsa in Krishna Leela, Nawab in Bhakta Ramadas etc., but strangely he chose to portray Hanuman in Sampoorna Ramayanam. It is sad that the children of these days miss Mnohars, Herans,Nawabs and TKS Brothers. The bad part is that they have to watch TV serials on Ramyana and Mahabharata, if at all they have a mind to see and time to spare, where substandard quality portrayals are dished out and shown.
ReplyDeleteWe were the first to be in the queue to book the tickets for Manohar dramas!! Those days won't come again and none will understand this either.
appa
Appa, We visited a resort "Sai Vishram" near Udipi last year. They had orgranized a yaksha-gaana on "Duryodhana vadham". It was nicely executed in an open-air theatre and with a good audience as well. Yaksha-gaana is stylized with dance and music also thrown in....
ReplyDeleteQuite different from Manohar's plays but still very enjoyable and nostalgic!
-s