Political street theatre, or Third Theatre, is
a grassroot no-holds-barred critique of
Indian politics. Ergo catches up with
theatre group Agni Kalai Kuzhu during
one of its performances

e has been surrounded by music since childhood, is regularly seen at all kutch-

eris across the city and has always appreciated good music. But Sundararaman Chintamani, an ardent music connoisseur from the IT industry, wanted to take his passion further.

With an urge to popularise classical music among the mass- es through cine music, Chinta- mani devoted a lot of time and commitment to come out with a book, Raga Chintamani, a com- pilation of 1,819 Tamil \ufb01lm hit songs based on classical music ragas. From songs from one of the oldest movies,Haridas, to re- cent popular numbers fromRoja,

Born and brought up in a mu- sically-inclined family, Chinta- mani sought help from his mother and vocalist Pichammal, his sons and his wife, who is a classical dancer.

Chintamani recalling an anec- dote says, \u201cAt family get-togeth- ers we used to playantakshari of cine songs and try to identify their ragas. It was my father-in- law who aroused the thought of exploring and compiling cine songs and their classical links. He once said that \ufb01lm music having content of classical music was pleasing to listen to. I named the book after my late father

music.\u201d When it came to publish- ing the book, Chintamani decid- ed to do it himself.

\u201cThe publishers were not sure if this kind of book would work and, hence, my mother \ufb01nanced it. To my surprise, we got a lot of positive feedback from booksell- ers and the book was reprinted in 2007.\u201d

Along with the Carnatic raga booklet, this 100-odd-page book, which has 160 ragas listed in al- phabetical order with the respec- tive cine songs and movies, is ideal to take to all kutcheris for all those interested in both genres of music. To make it an interesting read for all connoisseurs of mu-

classi\ufb01cation of ragas and a quiz on music with answers. Chinta- mani says, \u201cI researched for two years for this compilation and based on the data collected I real- ised a little over hundred songs, to name a few \u2013 \u2018Kuyilukku Koo koo koovida\u2019, \u2018Keeravani keerava- ni\u2019, \u2018Yevano oruvan\u2019 \u2013 are made from Keeravani raga, while \u2018Un- akkenna mele nindray\u2019, and \u2018Pat- tu venama\u2019 are from Sindhu Bhairavi.

For those who play the chord instruments and synthesiser, there is a mention of the scale \u2013 arohanam and avarohanam \u2013 for each raga.\u201d

That apart, Chintamani has al- so written about the commonly- used ragas of various musicians and composers \u2013 K.V. Mahade- van, Vishwanathan Ramamoor- thi, Seerkagzhi Govindarajan, Trichi Loganathan, P.B. Srinivas, Dr. Balamurali Krishna and A.R. Rahman. \u201cWhile Illayaraja\u2019s best classical composition was the \ufb01lm Sindhu Bhairavi starring Si- va Kumar, songs fromKandukon-

IT professional Sundararaman Chintamani
has compiled a book on Kollywood \ufb01lm
hit songs based on popular Carnatic
compositions \u2013 1,819 in all

A woman Deputy Commissioner of Police
attached to the suburban police limits is
mostly unaware of what is happening
under her jurisdiction. Every time when
quizzed by media persons on a particular
incident, she remains blank. Recently, when
a major construction site accident occurred
in her limits, she came to know about it
only 45 minutes later \u2013 from a reporter who
called her to ask for details.

Most khakis on East Coast Road seem to be
having a gala time. Reliable sources reveal
that some crooked-minded guesthouse and
farmhouse owners are \u2018treating\u2019 the cops
royally in order to stay out of their
\u2018activities\u2019 on ECR. Apparently, there is one
particular farmhouse in the area that often
turns into the cops\u2019 party point.

A Tamil cine actor who is now contesting
the upcoming elections on a ruling party
ticket from a constituency in the southern
tip of the state is showering prospective
voters with big bucks. Apparently, the
actor-politician, as part of his campaign,
even made sure his latest \ufb02ick is screened
on a few television channels on Sundays.

ClickJobs has launched the pay-for-contact model, where employers can conduct un- limited free searches of the ClickJobs resume database and post jobs for free. They only have to pay when they decide to contact a jobseeker. Job seekers get paid 50 per cent of their r\u00e9sum\u00e9\u2019s value when their contact details are accessed by the employer.

he narrow lane off Aranga- nathan subway in Saidapet is lit with tubelights and a

small gathering of daily-wa- gers and labourers are warming up to the propaganda meeting organised by the Communist Par- ty (Marxist) in favour of the AIADMK candidate Chitlapak- kam S. Rajendran for the South- Chennai Lok Sabha constituency on Friday night.

What makes the roadside meeting different is that the main event is not a speech or propa- ganda songs; it is a street play. The street play staged by Agni Ka- lai Kuzhu, led by 41-year-old ac- tivist and theatre artist K. Kannan, is a stinging no-holds- barred critique on the drama that is Indian politics.

major political player at both the national and state level, the play evokes guffaws and sniggers from the crowd. Among the audience, a policeman in civilian clothes captures on video the entire play.

and the monkey). All the parties and \ufb01rst families of Indian poli- tics compete in the reality show in a bid to please the judges, one ostensibly the American Presi- dent and two others resembling India\u2019s richest businessmen. As the parties and the families outdo each other to come up trumps, there is humour aplenty at just about what all is wrong with Indi- an polity.

Where most parties believe in star appeal and popular rhetoric, the Communist party still be-

Revolutionised by patrons like Badal Sircar of West Bengal, Third Theatre is the angst-ridden anti-establishment content that is seldom seen on popular media.

Pralayan, one of the convenors of Chennai Kalai Kuzhu and a CPI (M) member himself, feels that Third Theatre and other forms of street theatre that have evolved through them are the effective means of reaching out to the downtrodden. He says he himself was inspired to take to the format after interacting with Badal Sir- car, who extensively presented his art form here in Tamil Nadu in the early 1980s.

The plays that they are present- ing for the ongoing campaign were ideated at a six-day camp organised by Chennai Kalai Kuz- hu in Yelagiri before the cam- paign

Communist party leaders, in- cluding N. Varadarajan, had seen the play before it started playing out on the campaign trails. But Pralayan insists that the leaders did not take any call on the con- tent. \u201cThe maximum suggestions often come from the audience.\u201d

The party has 14 street theatre (one being Agni Kalai Kuzhu) groups and another eight song- and-dance troupes performing across the state for the upcoming elections. The crowds they face could range from 50 to 3,000 at a time.

The most obvious question that came to our minds when we interviewed the actors was whether they face the ire of other party men. Since most of the ac- tors are activists and volunteers themselves, that happens to be a risk they are willing to take.

Kannan recalls the disruption they faced at Jyothimal Nagar slum tenements, also near Saida- pet, earlier last week, when some political functionaries of the op- position parties created a ruckus demanding them not to spoof their political leaders. Even the policemen urged them not to spoof the Tamil Nadu Chief Min- ister M. Karunanidhi. \u201cBut the audience was enjoying it. And it was not in bad taste,\u201d he says.

Most of the volunteers partici- pate in the street plays out of sheer passion and activism. They don\u2019t take home much of a pay at the end of the day for their per- formance. The night theatre earned them less than Rs.400 as donation. For 16 of them, that is hardly anything. But they don\u2019t seem to mind.\u25a0

A street theatre
performance by
Agni Kalai Kuzhu in
progress in Saidapet
in Chennai.

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