डाकिया डाक लाया- THE VILLAGE.

Long hair tied into a tiny pony,thick handlebar mustache,round Gandhi framed spectacles, khaki uniform and a sling bag is what I sported. I stood in the wings warming up and waiting for the children to exit after their dance.It was time to enter when the beat of the dhol matched the beat of my heart.I ran onto the stage dancing some easy but famous moves from the movies.The blinding light of the halogen lamps did not allow me to to even get a glimpse of the audience.I could only hear a round of applause which was probably for the children but which I was acknowledging .The tempo of the beats rose and so did the speed of my dance moves.Finally, with the music fading out I took a deep breath to deliver the dialogue of my first ever professional drama- "Good morning Gajinikanth- Kaaaannnthhh???"





On the day of the show I could not control my enthusiasm so reached the EGMORE MUSEUM THEATRE almost two hours before the reporting time.There were two advantages in being there early- first of all I got a free ride from my uncle who was going to office and secondly I had the time to allow the feeling to settle in.I stood gaping at the architecture of the building.It is a circular structure with a huge central dome, built out of red sandstone.A flight of stairs led to the imposing gates of the corridor.The AIDS awareness poster bearing none other than the acting legend Kamal Hassan were pasted on the walls.I silently took blessings from the Guru and walked into the theatre through a 10ft tall doorway.I looked around the theatre taking a panorama shot of the entire place.The interiors looked very much out of the British era.The teak wood of the facade outlining the stage, the handles and railings had all turned black with age which added to the beauty.The green colour cushioning of the seats were a contrast to the white walls.I met my director Amit Singh(ASAP productions) who was working on setting the lights right and Ishwar Srikumar, a great theatre actor, was providing the sound system for our show.So I got to observe how the two very integral components of any play Lights and Sound were being setup.I also had a brief but very interesting conversation with Ishwar about my prospects in theatre.The green rooms were a sight in themselves with the well lit mirrors and wood work.One thing definitely worth remembering was the simple and just set put up by Michael Muthu.








The First show began at 19:30hrs on Friday.Only about 60% of the seats were occupied, which I was asked to believe is very good for a Friday show.Everything went just as rehearsed,at least for me,until Srihari forgot to give a sound que cutting out amit's(char.Ram) dialogue and from where arun(char. Gajinikanth) could take the line for me to follow.I felt amit staring at me and then srehari(sound guy) which made me freeze.Meanwhile Naveen dubai(char.Bakra) and Arun started building some werid conversation.Finally Naveen George Thomas(char.Dr Screwala) saved the day by giving a villanous laugh from backstage as a que for Arun.I goofed up by not reacting and just freezing.I Felt extremely dejected becuase I had managed such tasks very well atleast at college but did nothing here.But in the interval I regained my focus thanks to everyones reassurance that the audience did not notice it and my not freezing would have caused more confusion.I did my bit of rescue work by breaking the jasmine mala on Rajiv's(char.Gabbar singh) hand to which the garland got entangled,without which the marriage which was the immediate scene could not have happened.In the process I even cut my little finger.So I not only sweated it out for theatre but also had shed blood to make the first show a success.My good friend Bharti was the only one who attended this show inspite of her bad headache.Kudos to Bharti to come and support my first performance.She was also sweet enough to wait after the show and drop me home.I shall always remember it and which is more Bharti can tell her children and grandchildren about how she dropped The Actor Sreekanth after his first show.



The Saturday morning show was filled with students from Lady Andal school who had bought out all the seats.This show was a big hit and great fun because the children(audience) reciprocated the energy that we as actors were putting in.Also the play was apt for an audience of their age making our task of making them laugh was easier.The children applauded for all the characters but were personally involved by responding in chorus when Rajiv(Gabbar singh-villan) threw questions at them.I would rate that show as a perfect 5 on 5.



The final show on Saturday evening was the most important for the obvious reason that we had a huge crowd.There was added pressure on me because all those people whom I had sold tickets to were coming for this show and after the show I had to catch a bus to Tanjore(Which will lead to the topic of my next blog) which seemed almost impossible.Peripa,Perimai,Meena,Viny,Sweta and Sangeeta were some of the VIPs who had come to watch me perform.Also Prasad who sold a few tickets for me to his colleagues using all his MBA skills could not make it himself.By this show I had grown with confidence and also more relaxed on the stage.I performed with higher energy levels yet feeling much more comfortable on stage.May be I drew some extra energy from the vadapav and redbull that Rajiv and I had just before the show.That energy showed when I totally freaked out during the dance moves.There were no goof ups and everything went smoothly making my first theatrical venture a huge success.Another very fulfilling feeling was placing foot on the same stage on which greats like Shivaji Ganeshan,Nasir Uddin Sha,Kamal Hassan and my very own Appa had performed.





Immediately after the curtain call the entire cast was on stage dancing for all the famous kuttu songs.I once again jumped into action dancing with passion and also posing for snaps which Nafees was clicking.I danced in sync with Naveen Thomas,Arun,Amit and even Lakshmi(char.Preeti) joined us.If not for Peripa who came on stage and caught me by my collar and asked me to leave at once I would have definitely missed the Bus.After all the hugging and goodbyes I did run out of the theatre-but I will be back.Its Sad that I could not flick one of those AIDS awarness posters with Guru Kamal on it as discussed with Arun(thala) & Avinash.






The rehearsal days is something which I miss even more than the shows itself.I had built a special bond with the entire cast Amit,Naveen-dubai &Thomas,arun(Thala),Rajiv,Avinash,Sitar,Lakshmi and even the kids from goodbooks(specially that little Ekta).We used to have these sessions of enacting movie jokes which was so much fun.Abhinandan also joined us for those sessions.Lakshmi and I had a trademark Hi5 which we have pledged to remember even after 10 years.I used to travel back home with Avinash.One day Thala and I had a long chat when he came to drop me at CMBT.I helped Naveen at the medical shop.The lemon soda at Highlooks very close to Vidya Sagar where we used to rehearse.>>>>>>>> This is a never ending list.Every single day was so eventful that I could have actually written a blog for each day.I will cherish this experience of "THE VILLAGE" forever.


*Thanks to Nafees,Peripa,Sweta and Bharti for all the photos.


*Also cant forget the review which came in Indian express(expresso) decent review I must say.But it had four photos which were taken exactly in such angles that I was just cut out from the frame or my palm or one cheek is inside the frame.THANK U INDIAN EXPRESS.