Shraddha’s latest play, ‘Ippadikku Nandini,’ (concept, story, dialogue by S.L. Naanu and direction by T.D. Sundararajan) was entertaining in the early stages, but petered out tamely.
Adamant, whimsical but yearning for love… that sums up Nandini (Lavanya Venugopal). Her husband Vignesh (Anand Ram), who works himself to a frazzle, is the more appealing character. He is undemonstrative, but loves his wife deeply. Nandini and Vignesh keep up their persiflage, despite their pain over their childlessness, which is presented without making the scenes maudlin. They decide to fill up the vacuum in their lives through adoption… but with a difference. They adopt an elderly couple as parents, instead of a child!
Swaminathan (T.D. Sundararajan) and Maragathavalli (Geetha Narayanan) settle in with their newly found ‘daughter.’ Fortunately, there is no sentimental twaddle here. The old couple’s spirits are buoyed by the chirpy youngsters. And just when one is beginning to believe that there can be a cosy marriage between breezy dialogue and serious themes, the emotional trajectory changes. Swaminathan begins to give motivating lectures on TV that make him sound like an agony aunt, and that’s when the play begins to drag.
Swaminathan’s son, Vasudevan, arrives, and it isn’t exactly clear why he wants his parents back in his life. One valid point that Swaminathan makes to his son, throws into relief a major misconception that is providing food and shelter is enough to keep parents happy. But it ignores their emotional needs.
After Vasudevan’s entry, things become anticlimactic. In fact at one point, some members of the audience even clapped tentatively, thinking the play had ended. Some deft handling could have ensured the tempo was maintained throughout in a play that looked promising in the beginning but which, despite its novel theme, ended up being tepid.
Acting was a positive aspect and Lavanya and Anand Ram were especially good. The set (designed by Suraj and executed by Saidai Kumar) was attractive.
