Cho’s play Tughlak tweaked

What if he were to take a look at the current political scene?

April 04, 2019 03:49 pm | Updated 03:49 pm IST

A scene from ‘Thuglak Durbar’

A scene from ‘Thuglak Durbar’

With the General Election round the corner, T.V. Varadharajen’s 19th production, a political satire, ‘Tughlak Durbar’ comes as both a comic relief and a reminder for the public to vote. Inspired by Cho Ramaswamy’s play-film, ‘Muhammad bin Tughlak’, this production takes on the political parties and leaders in Tamil Nadu , blending fiction, fantasy and reality. While the premise is the same as Cho’s script, TVV’s play soon diverges in its plot to reflect today’s political scenario. The show on March 20 at the Narada Gana Sabha auditorium was the fourth staging of the play.

Somewhere in the heavens, Cho (P.T. Ramesh) and sage Naradha (Sridharan) decide to send someone down to Tamil Nadu before the elections, to set the political situation straight. Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlak (T.V. Varadharajen) and Ibn Badhudha (Shankar Kumar) are chosen for this task. Once in Tamil Nadu, Tughlak and Badhudha find themselves amidst corruption and abuse of power, and seem to be failing in their plan to acquire 40 seats for “good” candidates . It is then that they decide to establish their rule, ‘Tughlak Durbar,’ to beat the politicians at their own game. As Tughlak goes on to become the Chief Minister in just three days, all the other parties join hands to bring him down. Do Tughlak and Badhudha make the State a better place, or are they also forcibly drawn into corruption?

Funny definitions

The titular character is Muhammad bin Tughlak, who signifies the current political scenario, as the Sultan was infamous for making unintelligent decisions, often with drastic consequences. Before descending to Earth, Tughlak and Badhudha ask Cho to teach them about elections, and the definitions given by the latter for ‘election’ (it’s just like sports, but here the spectators get paid too!), ‘alliance’ and ‘policy’ indicate that to rule in today’s times, all you need is money and possibly a family of politicians.

In a post-show conversation, TVV said he hoped to spread the message that honest and deserving citizens should enter the fray to cleanse the political system. He was motivated to make a political satire following the success of ‘Idhu Namma Naadu,’ an earlier play in the same genre, again in collaboration with writer ‘Tughlak’ Sathya, who has been writing for the Tughlak magazine since 1980. “Politics interests me and this play attempts to create awareness about the pathetic political situation, ” says Sathya.

‘Tughlak Durbar’ also mocks at various other people involved in the election. Ramanujam plays a television news reporter, who goes to great lengths to get high TRP ratings , while Girish Venkat portrays a famous actor, Shankar, who has recently joined politics and whose greatest strength is uttering a flurry of alliterative and rhyming words, which make no sense! Kudos to the dialogue writer, Sathya, and Girish for pulling this off.

Apart from a few backdrops, the setting was minimal. More attention was given to costume, acting and dialogue.The portrayal of Cho — along with his characteristic mannerisms such as pulling his ear and clearing his throat when delivering a speech — and the Tughlak-Badhudha duo were the highlights.

The play ends with a monologue by Cho, directed at the audience. He says that the way things are happening — voters being bought for money — the nation is more likely to get good masters but not good leaders. He then advises us to vote responsibly, saying that in a democracy, we get the leader we deserve.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.