Ganesan, the hero of UAA’s ‘Soppana Vazhvil’ (story- Gopu-Babu, dramatisation and direction YGM) is rather poorly endowed intellectually. He is a doormat. Ganesan’s (YGM) trusting innocence stands out in a world known for its chicanery and spite.A concussion gives Ganesan the ability to foresee the future, and he uses this to get back at his tormentors. He becomes a scheming avenger, the proverbial worm turning, and how!.
The play explored many ideas - the core of intelligence that lies even in the seemingly dull witted; the danger that the core could be used lethally against people. But Ganesan discovers that revenge is not a balm that makes his hurt go away, and that the joy of felling an enemy is fleeting. So the play tackled the idea of revenge at a philosophical level too. Of course, a concussion leading to clairvoyance is unbelievable, but in a comedy, one suspends disbelief.
As it happens in many programmes, a gentleman in the audience kept talking on his cell phone, and YGM saying to his friend Vasu, “I’m walking out of jail now, but that man who is chatting on his phone should be put in jail instead!” was a perfect stroke of improvisation!
The superman joke was trite, but most of the other jokes worked well with the play and the character of Ganesan. That being the case, what was the need for scatological humour? Sara’s lines in French served no purpose. The scenes involving the astrologer (Suppini) and Meera’s mother and Ganesan’s father were overdone and repetitive. It was a novel concept, dramatised well and performed well, but it can become more taut with some pruning.
The play was staged recently at Vani Mahal, Chennai.
