The Dramatic Arts : Kalyana Samayal Boodham

Written and directed by CV Chandramohan and produced by P S Raja, Kalyana Samayal Boodham is a comedy play involving an old grandfather clock, a genie, a retired father and an unmarried son. Okay, I just said all that to make it seem as abstract as possible, but the reason I did that is because I don’t want to reveal any part of the story so you can experience it yourself.

From what I know it has been quite some time since Chandramohan has directed a comedy play, but this play proves that Chandramohan’s sharp dialogues extend not only to sentimental and dramatic plays, but also comedic ones.

I am going to be doing something different here; I am going to be explaining how I deduct points for the negatives in the play. This is not to stress on them, but just so that the mistakes can be identified clearly and they can be corrected in the following shows. Alright then, on to the review.

Story Screenplay and Direction - C V Chandramohan

Music - Guhaprasath

Set Design - P S Raja

Sets and Lights - Cheta Ravi

Cast - N S Krishnan - Sairam, T S Balayya - Chandar, T A Madhuram - Preethi Varma, Gemini Ganesan – Sriram, Major Sunder Rajan - Sowmya Theaters P T Ramesh, M R Radha - Mother Creations Jayakumar, Banumathy - Manjula Devi Pillai, Josier V S Raghavan – Vasudevan, Mathru Bootham - Suraj

Produced for LAKSHAYA ARTS by P S Raja

What I Liked:

The acting in the play is really good. Every actor brought their A-Game to the stage and there was no one off performance. What is special is that there are so many actors who have come from Chandramohan’s previous play, Eendra Pozudhil and I am amazed at how they adopted characters from a different genre altogether.

Even through all the great performances, two stood out and they are Sairam as N S Krishnan and Suraj as the Boodham. Sairam flaunts his amazing range going from funny to serious within moments and Suraj was charismatic, confident and sometimes even menacing as the Boodham; definitely two 

of the best performances of the play.

The set design by is minimalistic and completely functional, serving its purpose and never distracting the audience from the performance of the actors. The Lighting by “Cheta” Ravi is amazing, and while I do question some choices of spotlight in certain scenes, the effects are more than spectacular enough to make up for any grievances there.

The music by S Guhaprasath is creative and atmospheric. There are so many tracks that you lose track of where one starts and where the second one ends. Keep in mind that this is a compliment because being able to spot different tracks is a sign of bad sound direction.

So those are the areas where the play succeeds. While not technically perfect, it does come pretty close to it.

What Could Have Been Better:

I have three major gripes for which I will be deducting points.

In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for movie style songs on stage. While this play does have a rather short one which is done better than most it has done nothing to alleviate this particular disdain. I am going to maintain my opinion and say that I was not happy. But thankfully it is pretty short, around thirty to forty seconds, to be exact. I am taking away half a point for that.

Secondly, there are a few plot holes and inconsistencies. Most of them are linked to the particular nature and powers of the Boodham. Being a mythical being I felt that those inconsistencies could have been addressed or alluded to, if not explained. So I am going to be taking away half a point for that.

Thirdly, there is a tonal shift in the play and certain characters under-go certain changes. Yes, they are certainly dramatic and certainly well acted but I felt that the motivations and circumstances that lead to the scene do not warrant the changes. The Director could have used just one more scene which would have fleshed out both the reason and the motivation for the changes. Another half a point deducted, for that.

Yes, there were other small nitpicks that I had with the play, but I feel that those are things which can be disregarded as they are that insignificant.

Final Thoughts:

Performing the necessary calculations we can arrive at a grand total of 3.5 out of 5. But here is the thing, I have given most comedy plays a 3.5. So I had to ask myself, is this like every other comedy play I have seen.

Every way I look at it I arrive to the same answer. NO. This is much more than your regular comedy play. This has a lot more drama and melodrama to it. It has amazing performances from every member of the cast, not only the leads. So I think that it deserves half a point just on the acting alone.

So there you have it. I give Kalyana Samayal Boodham 4 out of 5 stars.

It could do with improvement in some areas, but it is still a good play nevertheless. I suggest you check it out, if you get the chance. You won’t be disappointed. Until next time;

Peace!!!