The Dramatic Arts : Kalakara Mapillai


Kalakara Mapillai is a comedy play written by Ezhuchir Aravindan, produced by Rajiganesh and directed by “Mapillai” Ganesh, and the basic plot follows two adopted siblings as they try to gain a sizeable inheritance by convincing their adoptive father that his son has been born again as a different person.

Kalakara Mapillai, while not a great play, is nevertheless, a thoroughly enjoyable one, featuring a lot of really good jokes, old music and proper timing. Before I move on to the review, here are the details of the cast and crew.

Direction - "Mapillai" Ganesh
Writing, Dialogues - Ezhichur Aravindan
Music - s Guhaprasath               
Lights - "Kalaivanar" Kitcha                  
Sets - "Padma Stage" Kannan
Stage management - Prabhudass
Cast – “Mapillai” Ganesh (Arunachalam), Shanmugasundaram (Panchapakesan), Palani (Gnanasambandam), Ramprakash (Kandasamy), Prabhudass (Lawyer Kesavan), Kv Kumar (Aavi Arunachalam), M S  Ganesh (Rishikumar), Narayani (Krishnaveni), Bhanupriya (Yaamini)
Production - Rajiganesh
Sathyasai Creations


What I Liked:

The acting in the play is good overall. All the important people play their roles without much in the name of faults. My favorite characters were “Mapillai” Ganesh as Arunachalam, Palani as Gyana Sambandham and Narayani as Krishnaveni. While I have not mentioned everyone by name here, I have to reiterate; all the actors did a decent job, with no breaks in character.

For the most part, the jokes are really good. It is towards the second half that I genuinely had some laugh out loud moments, but even in the first half the jokes illicit chuckles, if not from me, at least from most of the audience. Another thing that I liked was that the jokes didn’t just come from one person. Everyone was funny. Everyone hit the right comedic notes.

The music by S Guhaprasath is nostalgic and is heavily based on the cinema music of the 90’s. All the tracks were perfect for the setting and the tone of the play. The lights by “Kalaivanar” Kitcha is, once again, top notch and the sets by “Padma Stage” Kannan were a definite improvement over his previous play.

What Could Have Been Better:

I have always given my opinion in my reviews, and according to my opinion, there isn’t that much wrong with this play. It doesn’t have jarring faults, which made me look away from the stage cringing, and for a comedy play, seventy percent of the jokes are funny, so I guess that qualifies as a win.

But there are a few nitpicks I have with the drama. I did notice a few instances where the actors fumbled around with the dialogue. And like I mentioned earlier the jokes in the first half are really bad compared to the really good ones which come after the first few scenes of the play.

All in all this play is pretty run of the mill. There is nothing innovative about it, in terms of stage production or acting. The troupe stuck to the tried and true, classic comedy style and you know what, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Final Thoughts:

I had a fun time with this play, especially once it started building momentum. I even had a few laugh out loud moments and for that I am happy. I probably would have given it a higher score if they tried something different, but regardless, Kalakara Mapillai is good as is.

I give Kalakara Mapillai 3.5 out of 5 stars

Check it out if you’re in the mood for a few laughs. I will post future show times of Kalakara Mapillai when available. Until tomorrow:

Peace!!!

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