The Dramatic Arts : Neeya Naana

Neeya Naana, the latest play from Stage Creations, falls into the family comedy genre, and its success is greatly aided by the fact that “Kathadi” Ramamurthy stars in this play in all his comedic glory. The play, although lacking a deep plot, more than makes up for it in the comedy department.

Neeya Naana tells the story of a bet between a Father-in-Law, who wants his son to go live separately, and a Daughter-in-Law who wants the family to be together. The play in directed and written by SL Naanu, and is produced by Bobby & Jhonny.

Direction, Story and Dialogues - SL Naanu

Music - Subbu

Lights - "Cheta" Ravi

Sets – “Saidai” Kumar

Stage – Sai

Makeup – “Perambur” Kumar

Cast – SBI Murali (DR Mani), Srinivas (Cheenu), Maheshwar (Bala), Chandru (Advocate Chandru), Port Trust Srinivasan (Giri), Hari (Vignesh), SL Naanu (Madhu), Lavanya Venugopal (Nandhini), Geetha Narayanan (Lalitha), “Kathadi” Ramamurthy (Srinivasan)

Production – Bobby and Jhonny

What I Liked:

I mentioned earlier that this was a comedy play and that “Kathadi” Ramamurthy plays a role in it. Then it must come as no surprise that the play has some of the best comedy I have seen on stage. Even I laughed out loud during a few scenes, which is really surprising. He really is the king of comedic timing.

The supporting cast is also for the most part really good. Lavanya Venugopal as Nandhini, SBI Murali as DR Mani and Chandru as Advocate Chandru were some of my favorites. But like I said earlier, the whole play is carried forward by the comedy of “Kathadi” Ramamurthy as the titular character Srinivasan.

The sets by Saidai Kumar were simple and eloquent and the make up by “Perambur” Kumar is on point. While a comedy play does not require much in terms of lighting, just stage lights that is, the lights were operated is a proper fashion by “Cheta” Ravi, especially during a scene which was clearly improvised to hide a mishap.

The music by Subbu is perfect for the comedic nature of the play, and makes sure that the pacing is kept consistent.

What Could Have Been Better:

While it is great to watch “Kathadi” Ramamurthy be a one man army on stage, the disadvantage is that it becomes apparent when the supporting cast is not up to the mark. I noticed a few scenes where the supporting cast forgot their lines and fumbled around for a few moments. In a play with well written comedic Dialogue, small mistakes like this become really apparent and that hurts the overall appeal of the play.

Another problem which props up when “Kathadi” Ramamurthy shoulders the whole play is that, it becomes repetitive. While the jokes in the second half were good, they were nowhere as good as the ones in the first half.

Another nitpick which I cannot help but point out is the weird time jumps which happen from scene to scene. Of course, being a comedy play, one does not need to keep track of the time, but sometimes the time shifts become too jarring.

A lack of a shock track in the music also came as a surprise for me. For a drama which has solid music, when a scene which is supposed to shock the characters has disco music running in the background, it takes away from the immersion.

Final Thoughts:

Neeya Naana is not the most innovative comedic play of the year. It is definitively not the most moral filled story. But what it does have, in abundance, is comedy. This play is a great stress buster and anyone who is looking for a good laugh must see this on stage.

I give Neeya Naana 3.5 out of 5 stars.

This play is yet another notch on “Kathadi” Ramamurthy’s ever growing belt of good family comedies. Any further dates will be put up here, so make sure you check back often. Until tomorrow:

Peace!!!