The Dramatic Arts : Thupariyum Sambu

Thupariyum Sambu, the latest production of Shraddha, is a remake of a drama classic of the same name. This remake is something special because a few of the actors of the original reprise their roles, the most important one being “Kathadi” Ramamoorthy as Sambu.

For those of you who are unaware of who Sambu is, think Inspector Cluseau, form the Pink Panther, without any intelligence and all the luck in the world. He solves crimes and finds missing items just because of his luck and this leads to him becoming a detective. Keep in mind that Sambu was a character, who was created long before The Pink Panther was ever envisioned.

Writing - Devan               

Music - Subbu and Anand           

Lights - Mylai Babu         

Sets - Kumar Stage         

Makeup - Perambur Kumar        

Backstage - Sai 

Cast - Kathadi Ramamurthy (Sambu), Girish Ayyapath (Inpector Gopalan), Pammal Pacha (Venkittu), Rajesh (Kothandam), Srinivas (Sundaram), Madhu (Makara Bushana Rao), SL Naanu (Sabha Secretary), M.B. Murthy (Kalyana Raman), Gowrishankar (Sankara Iyer), Port Trust Srinivasan (Rauji), Sridhar (Binder Naicker), Karthik Bhatt (Masal Vadai), Ramesh (Jamindar), Prabhu (Peon), SBI Murali (M.D), Anand (Cid 1), Sivaji Chaturvedi (Cid 2), Ganapathy (Constable 313), Chandru (Sub.Inspector), Hitesh (Sundu), Hari (Rowdy 1), Karthik (Rowdy 2), Lavanya Venugopal (Vembu), Kavitha Sivakumar (Lakshmi), Manjula Devi Pillai (Saroja), Maheshwar(Commissioner)                  

Production - shradha

What I Liked:

Comedy plays are always a gamble to make, because there are so many ways a joke could fall flat. Fortunately, I enjoyed most of the jokes in Thupariyum Sambu. The play maintains a proper pacing throughout and scenes are neither too fast paced nor too slow. Thupariyum Sambu is a testament to the fact that legendary plays from a certain time period do not need to be updated for modern audiences for them to be successful. The original play was staged in the 70’s when there were no cell phones or TVs.

Thupariyum Sambu never tries to modernize anything. Sambu does not use a cell phone to call the police. He doesn’t make references to modern political situations and modern films. And what’s great is that the humor still works. It doesn’t matter if the wife of the inspector heard something on the radio, or if Sambu has to hire a clunky camera to take a picture of his wife, who must stand still for a long time for the picture to work.  The play has the ability to take you back to the time period and that’s what makes it special.

Another thing I loved about Thupariyum Sambu was the fact that the humor was truly genuine, light hearted and funny. There were no sexual innuendoes, no insults thrown at people for looking like something or talk of infidelity. Every joke is circumstantial, every joke is well mannered and surprisingly most of them are funny.

The sets by “Saidai” Kumar and Shanmugam are minimalistic and they allow the performance of the actors to take center stage, so to speak. The lighting by “Cheta” Ravi is on par with the set design, making sure to compliment the performances without hindering them. And the makeup by “Perambur” Kumar is nothing but top notch. I especially loved the bald head and long nose of Sambu which is iconic of the character.

What Could have Been Better:

Thupariyum Sambu is like a collection of his exploits. There is no single story connecting the scenes which happen on stage and for a while it works. But where that falters is during the end of the second half. It feels as if one of the cases can be removed and the play can be made shorter, or a new one can be added without many consequences.

While this is a really good way to make sure that the play has a constant pace, it does take away from the interest factor. There was one such near the end, which I felt was unnecessary, purely based on the fact that even if it was removed it would have been a good play.

Secondly, “Kathadi” Ramamoorthy is in the play. This means that, even if the other actors falter, he can make sure that the scene goes on. But, at the same time, as the play goes on, it becomes apparent that he takes on the comedic brunt of the play. Now keep in mind that this is a compliment to the extraordinary comedic timing of the man. But I felt that there were other actors, Girish to be particular, who could have been given much more in terms of comedy, for he is that good an actor.

Finally, the music was not good. The only place where music is used is during the transition and even then, it feels misplaced and thrown together in a hurry. A few sound effects miss their mark and that part made me cringe internally. While music could have been used to complement the comedy, the only background music we hear is silence; that, and the applause of the audience.

Otherwise, the only other fault I have with the play is that some actors did forget their lines on stage, and some jokes missed their timing. But, seeing as this is just the inauguration, they can only get better with time.

Final Thoughts:

Thupariyum Sambu is a well made play with a plethora of really good jokes. While some may have missed the mark, a large part of them are really well done. I ended up having quite a few laugh-out-loud moments, especially towards the second half where the comedic brunt of the play lies.

I give Thupariyum Sambu 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Check it out, if you are in the mood for some good natured humor which can be enjoyed along with all members of your family, even the younger ones. Until next time:

Peace!!!