The Dramatic Arts : Vaayu

Vaayu, directed and scripted by Sreevathson, is the latest play from the drama troupe Dummies and as a beginning to this review, Vaayu is a “drama” unlike anything that I have ever seen before. Before I get any further into the review, here are the cast and crew behind this one of a kind play:

Role played	Name of the Person
Madam PM	Mrs Prema Sadhasivam
Raju Ji	Mr. Bhoo Thirumalai
Sanjeev	Karthik Bhatt
Ramakrishnamoorthy	Sridhar
Minister Hari Chander	R Giridharan
Maheshwar	CS Raamanathan
Bhargav	Prasanna Sridharan
Suloki Staff	Ganesh
Daitchu Staff	Sai Prasad
Minister Dattatri	Manikrishnan
Tim Huan	Aravind
Mr Orando Suloki	Naagarajan
Mussori	Naren
Aaradhana	Archana
Vijay	Swami
Planning Commission Scene	Mr. Raamanujam, Mr. Rajesh, Mr. Ravisankar, Mr Venkatraman
Union Leader	Mr K P A Latheef
Factory People	Vignesh, Ashwath, Shiva, Kripa Shankar, Bala Vignesh, Sourav, Manikandan, Pramod
Harpal Singh	Sriram, Suphraja and Srija and Srijith
TECHNICAL SUPPORT TEAM
Make up	Perambur Kumar
Sets	Padma Stages Kannan
Set Design & Execution	Team Dummies, Special thanks to Mr. Shanmugam
Lights	Babu…
Sound	Narada Gana Sabha
Engineering Support	Ashwath & Swami
Factory Set up	Mano
Factory Set up Assiatnce & Stage Craft Partners	Sathyam Graphics, Special thanks to Sathya
Publicity and Invite Printing Partner	Mr. Ganesh
Music Credits	Music Mixed at Manoj Studios, Thanks to Mr Manoj
Music Credits	Songs mixed at SIFM Studios, Thanks to Mr. Divakar
Singers	Niveditha Sriram, Gayathri & Sreevathson
Lyrics	Mahakavi Bharathiyar
Music Co ordination	Mythili Ragav
Project Manager	Sriram G
Original Back Ground Score	R Giridharan
Written and Directed by	Sreevathson V

What I Liked:

Calling Vaayu a drama almost seems to be a misnomer. If I were to be more exact it is a documentary with a few dramatic elements. While I am not sure if this is the first play to take on such a concept, I am certain that this is one of the few plays that execute this style almost to perfection. The subject of the documentary is also something that makes it difficult to adapt to stage and I have to tip my hat for an almost flawless execution in that respect too.

The subject of the drama is the establishment of the Indian car company “Maruthi”, or as it was called then “Vaayu”. With this unique subject the play manages to bring amazing set design and incredible stage direction in front of the audience. Along with this it also brings some of the best props and incredible lighting. The lighting manages to showcase depth and incredible intricacy in the setting and this is all thanks to “Padma Stage” Kannan for sets and “Mylai” Babu for the lights.

The acting is serviceable and while the actual composition of the music and the songs are great, I was disappointed by the use of this music, or rather the lack there-of. The make up by “Perambur” Kumar was on point, as usual.

What could have been Better:

The biggest problem that I had with the play, apart from the spotty acting in some parts, was the pacing. The play is not one for the fickle minded. The first hour of the play is extremely slow and at a point it almost becomes too much of a wait. As the second hour rolls in the pacing does pick up accentuated by the grand sets but it ends up being too little too late.

Since this is a docudrama of sorts, there is no actual suspense on the story. You never get any twists you never get any form of tension or any unknown reward, both for the audience or for the characters in the story themselves. We know what happens in the ending and after a certain point in time we almost want it to get over just so that we can get to the resolution. Purely from an objective standpoint there is no buildup of tension. There is one small point addressed which could have brought a strange and fictional twist, but I guess that would have deviated from actual history.

The Problem with Critiquing a Prototype:

This “drama” is certainly a prototype. The story is inherently one without tension or emotions because all these are based on true facts. That makes this play all the more difficult to judge. I cannot deduct points for the story, because this is history. I cannot criticize the format for this is something totally new. I cannot criticize the concept for this is something that is new to the world of drama.

The only thing that I can deduct points for, are some of the performances and the overall pacing; but otherwise I cannot find faults with the execution nor the performance because this is a totally new genre. A documentary exists not to entertain but to provide information. This falls into the same category, but we call it a drama because it fits into the broad definition of what a drama should be.

Final Thoughts:

Vaayu is a one of a kind play which I cannot criticize too much because of its nature. While, to me it seems too high a score, purely on the execution and the technical prowess shown I have to mark it high. As a reviewer I must look at facts and not personal preferences; at least when it comes to plays based on facts and documented history.

I give Vaayu 4 out of 5 stars

I need to apologize for the late review. This should have gone up last Monday, but certain circumstances led it to being postponed. Until next time;

Peace!!!