Not so long ago, the industrial workers were ardent supporters of the theatre movement in the State. Theatre activities flourished in most of the industrial units during the sixties and seventies. There were theatre festivals and drama competitions organised by them and some exclusively for them.
Things changed fast and soon all this became a happy story of the past. In an attempt to recapture the lost glory of theatre in the industrial units and instil a passion for theatre among workers, a group of young theatre enthusiasts of Cochin Shipyard Ltd. produced and presented a brilliant adaptation of Habib Tanvir’s classic Charandas Chor . “Our intention was to bring our people back to the theatre. We chose a play that could be adapted to our situations and one that allowed possibilities for improvisation,” says Sumesh Chittooran, an established actor and director of the play.
An employee of Cochin Shipyard, Sumesh initiated the idea of reviving theatre in the organisation. Initially there were only few people to support his idea. But soon many employees subscribed to his views and they decided to re-launch the theatre activities. “We are so happy that it became a big hit. There was huge gathering of theatre lovers, especially the youth, which was beyond what we expected. This proves that theatre is still alive here.”
And of course, there was a huge audience to watch the play titled Kallan Kunjalan . “There was never a dull moment in the play and all of us enjoyed it so much,” says Geetha, an audience member.
Kallan Kunjalan starts with a market scene, where most of the characters of the play are introduced. “This scene, which is not there in the original, was created to kindle a curiosity among the audience so that they would watch the rest of the play,“ says Sumesh. There were similar scenes like the one in which Kallan Kunjalan takes a team of villagers to loot the landlord. This scene was presented with a nattupolima , a festival of the villagers. While the artistes sing and dance, some of them use the occasion to loot the money and the agricultural produce stored by the by the landlord. The scene was presented brilliantly with a team of folk singers. Similarly, the director used the talented dancers of his team effectively in a palace scene where the princess falls in love with Kallan Kunjalan. These scenes were spectacular but also jarring to a point. But Sumesh explained that he did this in order to make use of all the resources and talent he had within the Cochin Shipyard team.
The last scene was also a deviation from the original. In Habib Tanvir’s play Charandas Chor is arrested by the police and sentenced to be hanged. But here Kallan Kunjalan is caught, sentenced to be hanged, but is beaten to death by a mob.
Kallan Kunjalan stands as a symbol of those people who lead and revolt against the corrupt and cruel establishment. People like Kallan Kunjalan are always there which is why he appears in the final scene, even though he is supposed to be dead, along with all the other characters shouting out aloud Satyameva Jayathe .
More than 80 actors participated in this massive production and except a few, the rest were acting for the first time. Sibin who acted as Kallan Kunjalan was outstanding. Harendran Nair and Ramesh Chandran (Policemen), Haris Musaliar (Landlord), Shadmajan (Guru) were also impressive. All the others also did a very good job. Music by Vishnudas, lighting by Manoj and Jayesh were excellent.
