Bombay Gnanam
| Photograph Credit score: PICHUMANI Okay
Within the late eighties, when theatre teams within the nation had been principally led by males, Bombay Gnanam efficiently broke the glass ceiling to guide a drama troupe. . She scripted historical past by beginning the Mahalakshmi Women Drama Group (MLDG), an all-women staff that redefined Tamil theatre. Its performs, particularly on social themes, obtained overwhelming response from the viewers. T
On the eve of the twenty fifth anniversary of MLDG, Gnanam chanced upon the outstanding life story of Bodhendral, a seventeenth century saint by way of a discourse by Hariji, son and disciple of Krishna Premi Swamigal. This made her need to discover non secular themes. Her late husband Balasubramaniam inspired her to do the identical. And thus started her tryst with dramas on saints and gurus.
From Ramanar
| Photograph Credit score:
SRINIVASAN L
Gnanam feels that each nice religious persona in India represents excessive values which might be common and past one’s religion. “ The youthful technology asks questions and that’s most welcome as many of those saints additionally requested questions and obtained clear solutions on their journey,” she says. Thorough analysis is Gnanam’s best energy and the authenticity of each important character might be vouched from the truth that she consults a number of sources. “For the play Bhaja Govindam, which depicts the lifetime of Adi Shankaracharya, we referred books written by Ra Ganapathy and Nochur Swami. We additionally recurrently search the steerage of discovered students,” says the veteran.
From Mahatmavin Mahatma
| Photograph Credit score:
Okay. V. SRINIVASAN
Supporting weavers and artisans throughout India can also be certainly one of Gnanam’s missions. Nativity by way of costumes, set design and music is given prominence in her performs. As an example, in Shirdi Sai Baba each piece of jewelry worn by the Marathi ladies characters such because the nath, haar and chinchpeti had been sourced straight from Maharashtra. For Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Gnanam procured Bengal cotton sarees. For recreating Kolkata’s well-known Dakshineshwar Kali temple on stage, Gnanam and her staff of set designers visited the temple . Music is an integral a part of her presentation and Gnanam and her music staff go away no stone unturned to make it a worthwhile expertise for the viewers. For Bhakta Jayadevar, the play’s music composers faithfully reproduced the Gita Govinda, composed particularly for the worship of Jagannatha on the Puri temple, by utilizing applicable instrumental interludes .
A scene from a Tamil play Saswatham by Bombay Gnanam staged at Narada Gana Sabha in 2011.
| Photograph Credit score:
R_Shivaji Rao
Being one of many first ladies administrators and writers, when requested in regards to the challenges she confronted as a lady within the discipline, she explains that her solid contains ladies of all ages and from completely different walks of life. Additionally, not all of them come from a theatre background however are educated rigorously by Gnanam. Auditions happen to pick out those that categorical their curiosity to affix the troupe. For all her dramas, Gnanam makes use of audio tracks the place the dialogue, music and background sound are pre-recorded. A number of rounds of rehearsals happen the place the solid is taught to mime to the audio recordings. “In a dwell play when the actors ship dialogue, the management rests with them. Nonetheless, miming to pre-recorded audio tracks can go fallacious simply and that’s the reason I ask my solid to repeatedly hearken to their portion till they excellent the pauses and gaps.”
Being a veteran theatre artiste, Gnanam’s ideas on the problems ailing Tamil theatre right this moment are extraordinarily related. “There are lots of necessary components that make a play profitable. Story choice, screenplay, dialogue supply and scene settings play a significant function. Nonetheless, many teams face monetary constraints attributable to lack of funding and sponsorship. Sabhas within the metropolis want to supply extra help to theatre teams,” she feels.
Bombay Gnanam’s Bhakta Jayadeva, staged at Narada Gana Sabha in 2017.
| Photograph Credit score:
Okay.V. Srinivasan
Audiences for theatre have declined sharply within the final twenty years because of the creation of tv, OTT platforms and different media content material.“It’s arduous to generate sufficient income to cowl even the manufacturing prices because the constraints are a lot,” says Gnanam.
Regardless of the challenges, Gnanam’s performs attracts a giant crowd, together with kids. Gnanam additionally travels together with her troupe to small cities and villages throughout India to succeed in out to individuals who typically should not have entry to theatre. Her performs are open to all. On the finish of every efficiency, the viewers members could make their contributions within the donation containers which might be introduced out by volunteers. Thus, Gnanam funds her tasks by way of sponsorship and voluntary contributions. What if she runs out of funds some day? “The present will nonetheless go on,” she smiles.
