Koothu-P-Pattari brings Tamil writer Pudhumaipithan’s life on stage, his daughter reacts

Koothu-p-pattarai traces the life of Tamil writer Pudhumaipithan who died in 1948 with witty repartees between his fictional characters in Chennai. His daughter watches from the audience.

Two hours before Koothu-p-pattarai’s production Naan Puthumaipithan begins playing at the theatre company’s premises in Virugambakkam, its crew is warming up with some acting exercises. You hear conversations about Tamil writer C. Viruthachalam, better known by his pseudonym ‘Pudhumaipithan.

It is the final day of the staging of the play, which chronicles the life of this revolutionary writer, who passed away when he was just 42. Director K. S. Karuna Prasad is preparing for this last show in Chennai before the troupe travels to Erode.

Every one is looking forward toPudhumaipithan’s daughter Dinakari Chokalingam’s presence in the audience.

Some of the actors are sweeping and swabbing the stage, others are setting up chairs while some are hurrying to finish their make up. You get an interesting purview of how this theatre company goes through the grind on and off stage.

According to Karuna Prasad, the play, which was staged for five days in a row, drew two kinds of audiences. “There is one group that adores Pudhumaipithan. They have read many of his writings and are eager to see parts of his life come alive on stage. The other group is clueless about him but gets excited about his work and reads about it when they go back..

Karuna Prasad and his collaborator, the Sahitya Akademi award winning writer S. Ramakrishnan discussed the theme before the pandemic. There was no clear plan about staging Naan Puthumaipithan. “S. Ra had announced on Facebook that he was ready with the script and that I was directing it. We have known each other for the past two decades”.

The play is set in the 1930s and 1940s and sees Pudhumaipithan (played by P. Ajay Aravind and A. Ajithkumar) struggling to find work as a writer in the world of publishing and cinema in Madras. He and his wife Kamala (R. Sridevi) , would often indulge in arguments about their life’s many challenges.