The wake-up call was the announcement of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha’s Nataka Choodamani award. How come the spotlight was never turned on S.B. Khanthan, who has been quietly contributing to Tamil theatre for more than three decades? The success of this younger brother of Mouli could be attributed to both passion and relentless effort. He was trained as a chartered accountant, but Khanthan chose to change course and diversify.
The stage careers of Mouli, Crazy Mohan and Khanthan have run parallel. Mouli, a student of Anna University, wrote scripts for competitions and won prizes. When he left college, the mantle fell on Mohan, his junior, who was inspired by Mouli. Meanwhile, Khanthan and (Madhu) Balaji, Mohan’s brother teamed for Vivekananda College and produced prize-winning plays.
Khanthan set his sights on CA and while preparing to crack the exams, found the time to watch Mouli, who was busy directing plays and films. “I literally shadowed him,” laughs Khanthan. “And he was not aware of it. I hung around the sets, came out when they broke for lunch and went back,” he adds. By assisting Mouli with production, Khanthan picked up the nuances. This came in handy when he became full-time director.
Hit play by the trio
Mohan-Balaji-Khanthan — the writer-actor-director trio — was ready. It was natural that they formed a troupe. The Crazy Creations was born in 1979. “Kathadi and Bobby guided us, but not for long. We found our feet and the first play we staged was ‘Allauddin and 1000 Watts Bulb,’ which I directed,” recalls Khanthan. The play was a hit, staged a hundred times, but in terms of gate collection, could not match the productions of Mouli, Shekher and UAA.
The turning point came with ‘Marriage Made in Saloon.’ It was a mega hit breaking all records in gate collection. It was this play, which K. Balachander adapted as ‘Poikkal Kudirai.’ “You can liken it to Sachin Tendulkar’s first double hundred,” says Khanthan. There was no looking back with each play accounting for hundreds of shows, ‘Chocolate Krishna’ approaching the 1,000 mark.
The next stop was television, in 1987. Mohan was allotted time for a serial on DD. “We went for the shoot without deciding the director. Munir Ahamed was the cameraman and was ready to take instructions, but from whom? Stepping in, I said, ‘You just start rolling the camera as Balaji comes riding on his scooter...’ and so it went all day. Mohan dropped me home that night and his parting shot was, ‘We’ll put your name as director.’ I protested and he silenced me. ‘I didn’t have a clue about what you were doing today. I can’t take the credit for it. If there are faults, you take the responsibility too.’ Thus I became the director for the troupe’s teleserials too.” The list would include ‘Nil Gavani Crazy,’ ‘SiRiGaMaPaDaNi and ‘Babyin Diary.’
Khanthan wrote and directed ‘Charulatha,’ produced by Vasanth and ‘Naan Ready Neenga Readiya’ for Vijay TV.
How did this chartered accountant find the time to be so prolific? “Finance Secretary with TI Cycles, my day would start at 6 a.m. Travel to the office in Ambattur, return late in the evening and after dinner sit for editing until morning was the routine. At one point, I had to decide,” reminisces Khanthan. But this dilemma was not new to the family. Elder brother Mouli had decided to follow his heart and father Balakrishna Sastrigal himself had quit his bank job in favour of Harikatha. Sastrigal advised his son to do what he liked best. “Next morning I submitted my resignation, which was reluctantly accepted by the company, which had encouraged all my creative efforts. It is another story that my association was happily revived when I went back as a corporate film-maker,” he says.
Another door opened, when Ramanathan, son of Ramnad Krishnan, approached Khanthan for a film about his legendary father. It was intended to educate the young family members about the genius of the patriarch. Umayalpuram Sivaraman was the speaker. The mridangam ace categorically said that he would come on board only if the film reached a bigger audience. His condition was conceded and that signalled a string of films, with Swati Soft Solutions, on artistes — Lalgudi Jayaraman, Thanjavur Kalyanaraman, T. Brinda, S. Rajam, Palghat Mani Iyer, Padma Subrahmanyam and so on. A film on Tiruchi Sankaran is getting ready.
Khanthan mentions his five-minute shorts for the pharmaceutical industry as innovative. “What the medical representative cannot put across to the doctor in 30 minutes the capsule will accomplish. It is packed with information — all about the drug and the target ailment. The visual appeal compels the listener’s attention,” elaborates Khanthan.
Cinema proves elusive
Now for the inevitable question — how come Khanthan did not make his foray into silver screen? “Destiny,” he replies. “ ‘Jerry,’ the film I directed, was a hit. And there was a plan to do the next with Madhavan. But that didn’t happen. Theatre and digital films consumed my interest.”
With a striking resemblance to Mouli, did Khanthan not venture into acting? “I was the director, from the beginning. My hands were full. Why, even Mohan put in only brief appearances in our plays. ‘Chocolate Krishna’ was the first time he donned a major role. My journey branched off in so many directions that there was no time to think of acting,” he explains.
Khanthan continues to look upon Mouli as his mentor. “I run all my ideas through him. And he is the first to see my product, whatever it is, and gives feedback,” he says.
Khanthan has already found a successor in daughter Dwijavanti. A student of Padma Subrahmanyam, she is trained in visual communication. “She plays a major role in the making of my digital films and it is refreshing to have her youthful perspective,” declares the proud father. And he attributes his success to wife Latha, who has been the anchor at home. “She managed everything on the home front even while coping with my hectic work schedule,” he acknowledges.
Father’s touch
When Mohan wrote ‘Crazy Kishkinta,’ he literally sat at the feet of Balakrishna Sastrigal to get the script right. “Appa always gave useful tips in the making of our plays. Kishkinta story was ready and the inevitable debate on Vaali’s killing by Rama figured. The question was how to end the play? Appa said: ‘Simple. Make Vaali appear and declare that he was blessed to have been killed by the divine Rama and there was no room for argument.’ That was followed and the audience didn’t stop cheering.
Directing KB
Khanthan recalls the magnanimity of K. Balachander, whose come-back plays he directed. “Both ‘Pournami’ and ‘Oru Koodai Paasam’ were digitalised and he acted in both. ‘Here, you are the director. Just tell me what I should do,’ he said and constantly checked if his acting was alright. That calls for a large heart.”
Crazy sixer
In keeping with the IPL mood, Crazy Creations is presenting CPL — a scene each from six of their hit plays — Madhil Mel Madhu, Madhu Plus Two, Meesai Aanalum Manaivi, Marriage Made in Saloon, Return of Crazy Thieves and Chocolate Krishna. “People love this sixer,” says Khanthan.
