Living in Chennai and staging our plays here is special, says ‘Maadhu’ Balaji

Maadhu Balaji, actor & theatre artist, speaks of his fondest memories of Chennai & his fave spots. He realized he was a true Chennaiite when he & his brother Mohan, along with Director Kanthan, would brainstorm & plan their hit drama productions at Marina Beach. Semma sweet machi - Chennai is special!

Actor and theatre artist ‘Maadhu’ Balaji speaks about how special Chennai is, and his favourite spots here.

Your fondest memory of Chennai? 

For us, Chennai is very special.  We have travelled across the world and staged shows, but living in Chennai, and staging our plays here is special. My brother Mohan used to say how travelling even from Mylapore to T. Nagar would make him homesick. We were born in Mylapore, and brought up in Mandaveli. The Kapaleeswarar temple, P.S. High School, Vijaya Stores and Kalathy Shop’s Rose milk were all a part of growing up here. If we were away from Chennai and travelling for more than 15 days, we would miss the city so much. When the flight finally lands in Meenambakkam, we feel so relieved and happy to be back.

Your favourite hangout spots in Chennai ? 

On every major occasion, my family would go to the Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore. During my study holidays as a student, we would go there every day and then start studying. The Kalathy shop’s Rose milk is so wonderful that you won’t find anything else like this anywhere in the world. Narada Gana Sabha is another favourite place that has seen many of our milestones. We have staged 100th and even 1000th shows of our plays there, and many celebrities have come to see us perform. The stage gives us a special aura.

When did you realise that you’ve become a true Chennaiite?

Before we write the script for our plays, we will just have a gist and for the next ten days, Mohan, Director Kanthan and I would go to the Marina Beach every evening. We would walk from Mandaveli to the beach and sit there from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Mohan will usually have a lot of ideas to share, and we would brainstorm and after the tenth day, have a complete story ready. All our hit drama productions were planned this way.