It was S.S. Sundararajan’s voice with the right pitch and tone, which caught the attention of AIR’s Pattukottai Kumaravel. Soon, Sundararajan was acting in radio plays. That was in 1976 and has not looked back. Besides acting in stage plays, he continues to pitch in for AIR. His dedication to theatre spanning over 40 years earned him the Vani Kala Nipuna title from Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha recently.
The AIR days are fresh in Sundararajan’s memory. He especially recalls the remarkable patience with which M.K. Murthy handled artistes and remembers sharing space with Major Sundararajan, S.V. Ramdas, Parvathi Ramanathan, Vijayachandrika, Shanmugasundaram, Hemamalini and so on. “Also there were many others, from whom I learnt the art. I’m thankful for the encouragement I received from AIR, Iyyapaan and T. Ganesan, in particular,” says Sundararajan.
Foray into theatre
What brought about his move to the stage? Sundararajan was an executive committee member of Sri Kapali Fine Arts and this put him in touch with several drama troupes. His skits were a regular feature in the sabha’s anniversary celebration and Kudanthai Mali was impressed with one of them. Sundararajan became part of Mali’s Nataka Mithra and acted in his play, Oru Manaivi Uruvaagiraal, which saw more than 100 stages. “He taught me the dos and don’ts of stage acting,” says Sundararajan.
The actor, however, is associated with Crazy Creations these days. How did that happen? “I was a great admirer of Crazy Mohan, who had just formed his team and the plays he had written for other troupes set a new trend,” recalls Sundararajan. Return of the Crazy Thieves, the group’s first play went on stage in 1979 and Sundararajan donned the role of Appanna Sastrigal, a negative character. Ever since, he has remained with Crazy Creations. Briefly he acted in TSBK Mouli’s Flight 172 .
How many know that the old woman in Chocolate Krishna is a man? Sundararajan supplies the background. “Mohan was planning to include the character of an old lady in Chocolate Krishna . Balaji suggested that I appear before Mohan in the ‘get up’ during the interval of another play of ours and I did. Mohan was surprised and recognised me. He appreciated my initiative and not only handed the role to me but added scenes.”
In Google Gadothgajan , the hero would ask Gadothgajan to change his grandmother’s mind. Instead the mantra would change the old woman into a young girl. The desperate hero would beg the asura to restore order. In a split second, the girl would be replaced with the old woman. “The team wondered whether I would do all of this in the stipulated time of three minutes. I demonstrated that I could and this episode has become an important part of the play,” explains Sundararajan. How does he manage to do it? “That’s a secret,” chuckles the actor.
The credit for Sundararajan wearing the nine-yard sari in perfect Vaishnavite style goes to his wife Shanthi. “She trained me,” says Sundararajan. “ “Mohan commented that it was like seeing my own mother in that costume. Whenever I get ready for the scene, I spend a few minutes gazing at the mirror seeing my mother in the reflection, concludes Sundararajan.
