The Dramatic Arts : Appavin Pen Nandhini

Appavin Penn Nandhini is a social thriller written and directed by Madhava Boovaraaga Moorthy and produced by The Original Boys Company – ’95. Appavin Penn Nandhini tells the story of a girl, who is soon to be married, caught in a controversial situation, putting her whole marriage and her family’s name at stake.

The subject of the play is controversial to say the least and it is also very relevant topic which should be discussed now more than ever. While the play manages to handle the topic in a really good manner, there are certain places where it falters, and it certainly leaves me, a youngster who happens to be part of the minority in the audience, with certain questions.

Direction, Story and Screen Play – Madhava Boovaraaga Moorthy

Music - Kalaivanar Kitcha

Lights - Mylai Babu, operated By Cheta Ravi

Sets - Saidai Kumar, Shanmugam

Stage Management - Pamodhini, Ravishankar, Ilango, Sridharan, Suresh

Cast - Viswanathan Ramesh (Father), VVS Sriraman, R Bhaskaran, R Sampath, Sabareesh Menon, Srinivasan, Malathi Sampath (Mother), Poorvajaa Moorthy (Nandhini)

Production - Gurukulam : The Original Boys Company  ‘95

What I Liked:

The story and the concept which drives the whole play are really solid. There are no great plot holes which cause problems with the story. Everything is tied together neatly in the end, perhaps too neatly but more on that later, and it really is an enriching experience.

The performances are functional. I do not have many complaints with the acting in general and I am happy to see the actors hit the right emotional notes, most of the time, in a play where emotions and reactions are the driving force. I really liked the performance of  Viswanathan Ramesh as the father of the titular character.

The lighting by “Cheta” Ravi is spot on, pun not intended, and the music by “Kalaivanar” Kitcha makes sure to keep up with the changing moods and scenarios of the play, quickly switching from casual to suspense to emotional.

The set design by “Saidai” Kumar and Shanmugam is amazing. The main set of the play is probably one of the top five best set designs I have seen on stage. Somehow, it caught my eye in every scene.

What Could Have Been Better:

For a drama to be executed successfully, it is enough if all of the parts are good enough. But for a drama to be critically successful all the parts should be much more than that. Unfortunately, some parts of Appavin Penn Nandhini are not more than good enough.

The acting, excepting a few solid performances, was just passable. It doesn’t matter if the two or three actors pull the weight of the play. It is especially disheartening when the lead actress is not up to par. I had heard a lot of praise in the drama circles regarding her performances. Maybe it was an off day because, sadly, I didn’t witness the best from her. Is it functional? Yes. Is it great? Unfortunately, no. It is really jarring when certain emotions remain unexpressed during certain pivotal scenes.

Another minor issue I have is that, with music, there come certain scenes where silence means that that the impact can be derived from the performance of the actor. I would have liked some more parts of silence as opposed to the constant hum of the background music. The music is good, but in a few scenes, it stole my attention from the happenings on stage.

Probably the biggest fault for me was in the end where an audience interaction happens. It completely broke the immersion of the play, taking away a lot of the impact of the performances. It also did not help that the actors forgot dialogues in that particular scene.

What I discussed above are the cases where the play could have been very much better. The following paragraph was one of my observations which I think must be elaborated on or explained. I leave it up to you guys to consider it, either as a problem or something you can ignore.

Since this happens to be a plot point, I shall try to explaining this without giving away much of the plot. When the main villain is caught, a certain monologue takes place where he is said to be part of one or two people who cause problems in the society.

But my question is, when the source of the problems is one or two people, why are the two characters in the play that belong to the age group as the villain, portrayed as the same vile people?

Somehow this went against that message, at least for me.

But that being said you can really understand what I am talking about only if you watch the play and ponder over it for a really long time. So please watch the play, and ponder away.

Final Thoughts:

Appavin Penn Nandhini is a powerful social commentary which focuses on one of the biggest issues among today’s youth. It is definitely worth a watch. I am pretty sure that if the issues with the actors are ironed out this play is fantastic one. But as it stands now;

I give Appavin Penn Nandhini 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Please check back for future dates and show times of Appavin Penn Nandhini. Until next time:

Peace!!!