Fourth Corner Productions

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Deccan Herald Review of Keetale in Sunday Herald

Ammavra Ganda

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Bembidada Bhootha

Saturday, Sept 30 @ 7.30pm &
Sunday, Oct 1, 2006 @ 4.30 & 7.30pm in H N Kalakshetra

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About The Producers

Silver Blue Productions

Silver Blue Productions have agreed to Produce this production and we are glad to have them supporting our event.  Specials thanks to Asif and Diah for standing by and supporting us through out this production.

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About The Director

This is Sathish's fourth production under Fourth Corner banner.  He has been working with different theatre groups from India at different times.  After his hibernation or disappearance for three years, the Ranga Shankara festival 2004, put him back in line with active theatre.  He still is known for his theatre columns for newspapers and with special reference to Sunday reviews at Times of India.  He still continues to write for newspapers on theater and related issues.  To find two such articles CLICK HERE.  For his other theater ventures on and after 2005 CLICK HERE. For his personal profile CLICK HERE & Artist Profile CLICK HERE

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Directors Note

This play has been intriguing from the day I heard about this author.  Getting inspired is easy but Indianising it comfortably is an art.  I went around whole of Karnataka looking for this script, thanks to my good friend Poorna Chandra Tejaswi and family specially his mother that I found the script.  We have planted only changes to make it look and sound more conteporary. 
The Wine, Woman and Money three main lusts of MANkind are in showcase in this play.  The art of seduction and suffocation are the main thrills of this play.  Have tried to amplify and apply it to today with colors and honors.
Yes, we have changed it back to the same story line as the original Hollywood thriller from which G V Shivanand got inspired. The movie I was told was Ricochet (1963) Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey.  Movie script was written by Roger Marshall who got inspired by the novel "The Angel of Terror" by Edgar Wallace.  I tried to get information on the movie but in vain.  If any of you find it please give it to me.  So finally we are staging something which has challenged me from years.  Hope I have done good justice.  All inputs are welcome on pd@ivcorner.com

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Group Photo

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Cast

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE PLAY

Directors Note on Cast

S.Nanjunda Murthy Rao - Chandra Shekar (Brother of Chanchala Also CID Officer Sudarshan)
Nanjunda is known in almost all house holds as Mukta Nanjunda, people had trouble digesting the fact that it was his real name.  He came into our production by sheer luck and hats off to his interest and dedication.  He came in with his busy schedule for most of the rehearsals.

Jaideva M - Rama Rao (Uncle of Chanchala)
A good friend and a famous TV personality has unlimited interest in theatre.  His efforts into experimenting the way theatre works is commendable. He was supposed to play Chandra Mohan but thanks to my luck he plays this character.  Lucky to find him to act in this role.

Manjula Nanjappa - Chanchala (Anchor of the play, Modern day girl)
She too came in as a surprise, referred by a good friend I had no hopes of her being in this play when I spoke to her on the phone.  But she suited the role as if it was written for her and picked up quite incredibly to surprise me.

Ambarish G Purohit - Dr.'s Assistant Narasimha (Works with Dr. Subba Rao)
He came in with the intention of being a part of our back stage crew.  I was surprised at his honesty and direct face approach.  His style of Hubli Kannada matched the character and he did freak-out on his lines since he had full freedom.

Poornima Natraj - Chennamma (Maid Also Constable Rajamma)
She has been with Fourth Corner production from RangaAayama time.  She did help me a lot with planning and stayed with me till the end.  She had to act in a play of mine and she suited this role and thanks to her good sense of timing which the character needed.

Srinidhi R D - Dr. Subba Rao (Family physician)
He was the only guy I liked in the entire audition gang, something what could be called as love at first sight.  He suited this character and acts quite similar in real life, hence did good justice to the character.  

Ashwin - Chandra Mohan (Chanchala's boyfriend)
Ashwin was supposed to act in Ammavra Ganda but he refused since he was not too comfortable on stage.  But this time he ran out of excuses and he is the official charmer in the play.  He suited the role and also had the looks for it demanded.

Dayaprasad G Kulkarni - Timmappa (Gardner Also Venkatarao)
I knew Daya from many meetings at happening theatre places in Bangalore.  Also was witness his productions and did like his involvement and willingness to learn.  Doctor by profession he was humble enough to decline the Dr. title in our title cards.

Chandan S - Inspector Somasundar (Case officer)
He has been persistent enough to wait for many productions before getting on stage (the way I got on stage) and I gave him this very strict and stern role which suited him very well.  He juggled between production work and multitasking master I should say.

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Crew

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE PLAY

Directors Note on Crew

Lights - Arun Murthy
Hardworking youngster, trained from Ninasam and working actively with Natana he probably is most dedicated to his line of work - lighting.  He has the frill and fancy of a dreamer and suited the verve needed to light this play.

Music - Rajesh Prasath
Rajesh is the cute little thing working as sound engineer in Radio One.  Not many people know about his DJing skills but I was probably the first to cash in on it.  His ear to fine music and quick understanding of what's needed without a script was most impressive, hats off dude.

Chandan - Production Chief
He has been my production right hand, hardworking and dedicated has taken care of my other productions.  This one was not any different from the others.  More productions to go Chandan, keep hard working ;) !!!

Ashwin - Ticketing & Production
He has been doing the dogs work for Fourth Corner from quite some time.  His help was cherished during RangaAayama days, he single handedly managed tickets, money and the troops which participated in the festival.  An invaluable asset I should add.

Makeup - Ummi (Umamaheshwara)
This man has the works, have worked with him before for our productions as well as gotten made up by him.  He has this cool mind and never say die attitude.  Not nosy like other makeup artists makes him my best choice for any production. 

Naveen - Production Associate
I know Naveen from his chaddi days, he's this whacko yet macho boy on a bullet. Silent Killer as he's fondly known in his friend circle completes most of the work without a burp. He I hope helped Chandan in production because he never told me so ;)

Sreenivas - Production Associate
He too is a boy whom I have seen grow and have heard about his adventures. He looks thin and puny but has enough stamina to move and clear stage in good time.  He is limited with words but can express himself well if need be.

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About The Play

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE PLAY ON YAHOO

The name Bembidada Bhootha translates as "Haunting Ghost".  But this time the haunting is not leading to a horrific end but acts as a catalyst to solve a murder.  This would fall under the genre of Murder Mysteries but with a twist of horror attached to it.  The right clarifications about the play come clear with the climax.
This play revolves around the sins that humans do for their personal gains.  Love is good but Lust drives the heroine Chanchala to do things which turn the tables and puts her in the guilt chair. The neatly woven intricacy of the story unfolds tightening grip over Chanchala and her guilt trip. The crime committed envelopes the characters giving twist and turn at every scene of the play. The last scene revels the true murderer. 
In-fact in the original script published in 1964 G V Shivanand lays out an standing instruction "Audience should be advised not to leave till the curtains else the story would not be understood, and most importantly the interesting climax would be missed".

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE PLAY ON FLICKR

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About The Author

G V Shivanand was the third son of late Gubbi Veeranna, the doyen of Kannada professional theatre. He suffered an attack while acting in a Kannada teleserial in Bangalore. He had acted in films like Sankaracharya, and Madhwacharya and teleserials like Malgudi Days and Manvantara. A recipient of Karnataka Nataka Academy Award, he had formed a drama troupe, Kala Kunja, and presented a number of stage performances. His contribution to area of acting was well recognised as setting new standards in contrast to that of old-timers like Kailasam, Hirannaiah, Parvathavani and Sampath.

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Poster for the play

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE PLAY ON YAHOO

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE PLAY ON FLICKR

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Acknowledgements

Balraj K N a good friend and a fine cartoonist for the amazing illustration he created from the brief note written above.
Poorna's Mother & their entire family for finding us the script.
P R Sadasiva for giving us his beautiful house for rehearsals.

Keetale (Mischief) 

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The first ever fourth corner production, Keetale (Mischief)  is here. This might as well be used as a title for the actor Sihi Kahi Chandru,  well known for his comic portrayals in Kannada Movies and better known for the several highly successful TV sitcom serials (for family  viewing) such as Silli Lalli and Paapa Pandu.  

The script of the play is woven around our lives.  As William Shakespeare has rightly said "All the world is a stage and we are but actors".  Life and drama are two essentials in all our day to day activities.  The Play is a comical look at ourselves and the drama in our lives.  We are all good actors each time we lie which most consider an art! we are enacting something which never has happened.  The comical scenes from day to day are presented with Sihi Kahi Chandru's timing and special narration style.  Chandru would use special instances from his life and slices of our lives will entertain the audience for about 90 minutes.

In the typical stand-up style, there would be audience invitations on stage with whom Chandru would discuss life and drama.  There would be live music on stage which would be conducted by Chandru himself.  Songs from movies, plays, samples of Harikatha etc.  The 90 mts are designed to make every one present in Ranga Shankara laugh. 

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The concept of Stand Up Comedy is not new to Kannada Theater.  This attempt is honestly trying to dwell with the standard format of a typical Stand Up Comedy.  My idea of doing such a show is a long cherished dream.  With Chandru Sir's competence and his everlasting energy with the way he understands the people in an auditorium enthused me to start this production.  What's important for any kind of Comedy is the timing and all would agree with Chandru's sense of timing.  It was a challenge for me to write a script to match his robust energy.  I am very sure of this play to do full justice for my strong belief of old school of Theater that's to play for the audience!  I am sure that all the audience in the auditorium would LOL (laugh out loud).  Well hope you enjoy the show.

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His specialty in comedy is known to all in theater fraternity.  His current TV comedies Silli Lalli and Paapa Pandu have completed hundreds of shows and continue to boast a high TRP rating in ETV Kannada.  His comedy roles in movies are cherished by one and all, specially the current generation of film goers.   

He started his theater career when he was nine years old.  He has acted in more than 170 Kannada and English plays.  His professional acting career started in 1987 and has seen 227 movies, 64 TV serials. He has directed 50 serials and produced eight serials.  He has the distinction of acting in the first ever tv serial in a regional language channel in India, that is  "Sihi Kahi".  He still is identified with this name and remembered for his great performance.  The other not so famous first ever in movies was that he acted as hero in his first movie, doing double role (it was permanently canned for screening later!).

He now operates Final Cut, a video/film production house.  His current ventures Papa Pandu (940 episodes) and Silli Lalli (525 episodes) are successfully running on ETV.  Papa Pandu has set new records and standards in Kannada TV industry.

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He began his career in writing with periodicals and collection works.  He has published more than 30 of them and also two books "Swayam Vadhu" in 1974 and "Vargavari" in 1992 that have bagged Karnataka State Sahitya Academy awards.  M S Narasimha Murthy is known to his fans and close circles as MSN.  Samagra Hasaya, a collection of humorous work running into more than 1000 pages has been widely acclaimed.

His claim to fame was TV and scripts for TV. His charming scripts have given voice and color to many TV serials which has won our hearts.  To name them - Pa Pa Pandu, Silli LAli, Crazy Colonel, Mr. Nirudyogi, Nagu Nagutha Nali, Counductor Kariyappa, Sabina, Uncle Illappa.  He has written scripts for many movies like Ati Madhura Anuraga, Giddu Dada, Yamalokadalli Veerappan, Kattegalu sar Kattegalu etc.

With Keetale, he would be starting a new chapter in writing more humorous plays in the typical standup style.  We should give all the credit of scripting to him and his creative genius.

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The show would be incomplete without music and they should also match the timing of the performer.  The right finds were Gajanana T Naik and Raghavendra.  Gajanana well known in Kannada theater circle as Gaja, a Ninasam graduate has more than 50 plays under his belt.  His music is very well complemented with his voice and whoever has been to his plays always come out humming the tunes they heard inside the hall.  He currently is associated with Samudaya group, but works with most of the groups in Bangalore and in Karnataka. 

Raghavendra or Raghu has been the back bone of this exercise.  With his abundant theatre experience he was an added advantage for such an impromptu act.  He has worked with most of the Kannada theatre groups in Bangalore.  He too hails from Samudaya and currently works with an educational institution.  His percussion support for all the punches were as important as the laughs per minute of the audiences.

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This is Sathish's first theater script venture in Kannada.  He has written another one in English and most of his writing with respect to theater were restricted to reviews.  Even today majority of the theater circle knows him as a critic for newspapers and with special reference to Times of India.  He still continues to write for newspapers on theater and related issues.  To find two such articles CLICK HERE.  For his other theater ventures on and after 2005 CLICK HERE. For his personal profile CLICK HERE & Artist Profile CLICK HERE

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The Storytellers who used to narrate us the stories like in most of our cases the grand parents laid the foundation to stand ups.  It's a good bet that the first joke was a combination of schadenfreude and toilet humor. The first inter-action was probably mimicry - them pointing at him and laughing, and him excitedly pointing back at them and imitating their laughter. Well there was an African pigmy tribe called Danga who performed in the Pharaoh’s court in ancient Egypt dating back to 2000 BC.  We all know the importance of Vidooshaks in our kings and kingdoms and the Birbals and Tenali Ramans.

Also we could see many folk forms of India which is strikingly similar to stand ups.  The one which strikes my mind is Harikatha (Story of Lord Hari) which uses music, dance and narration to audiences.  The entire Dasa Sahitya (Dasa ) is derived from this particular style of musical narration.  There are many more but less space to talk about Indian forms of Stand-ups.

America saw the boom of stand up comedy starting in the fifties in the period following II World War.  That in a way led to the development of good quality microphones, and the advent of television contributed to more intimate and less robust approaches to live comedy.  It was the American legal system with of course race relations and sexual humor that provided most of the stand up comedians their huge wits to these artists.  They are the ones who made this form popular world wide.  Some names which we could sight here from the hall of fame are: Jim Carrey, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, Jamie Foxx, Benny Hill, Drew Carey, Ray Romano, Tony Allen, Jerry Lewis & Dean Marrin, Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, Steve Allen, Tim Allen.

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Ammavra Ganda (Henpecked Husband)

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Poster for Play Publicity 

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Directors Note

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With your continuing support we are now presenting our second production.  We would be glad if you join our mailing list and help us to serve you with good theatre.  Just send me a mail at pd@ivcorner.com and you shall be added on to your list. 

Ammavra Ganda
This probably is the simplest of the scripts with minimalistic everything. From sets to cast and from language to theme. In this play he talks about the real concept of feminism. The play revolves around two couples who know each other from college days. The boys know each other from football and cricket team and the girls from the history classes. 
The roles and lifestyles of then gentlemen and ladies is well depicted in this play and for all our surprises it has not changed much from the time he has written it. Punch lines like Hen-peckkeddu from Cox-townoo are found everywhere. The fun filled social comedy play has strong message about life and spending life with your partner. His thoughts on feminism should be understood by the pseudo feminists who litter our society with westernised thoughts.

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Ajith has this uncanny knack of executing comedy roles. Branded for his serious roles on TV soaps this I hope would be a welcome change to him and his regular viewers.  He being the most famous face of us, never let his stardom overtake his humbleness.  He plays as Ganda (husband) alias Subbanna in the play.

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Srinath Vasistha is a known face for who ever watches any Kannada channel.  His interpretation and his voice makes him stand out in any gathering. Hes also the organiser of Hasya Ranjini one of our offerings for corporate shows. His depiction of Yajamanru or Narsimhiyah suits his real life condition too.  He holds the stage with his personality and most laughs are credited to him.

Chandana is hard working and did the best possible rendering of her charecter Hendti (wife) aka Kamala.  Her rendition of the character won applause and many tears in the first run.  She plays the soft but well educated lady who renderst to all the needs of her husband and feeds his MCP attitude and rather large stomach.

Surabhi plays Ammavru by far the largest character in the play.  This bossy character was rendered to perfection to the same lines of the script.  Her loud voice and manly body language suited the role perfectly.  The one whom I thought would be the toughest nut became the darling of the audiences.

Chandan did backstage as well as Gentleman which is a small character helping to introduce Ammavru.  He has tremendous interest in theatre and wants to be a part of all Fourth Corner Productions.  His rendering of character did win many applauses and his prop work did reduce large burdens from my back.

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Crew happens to be the producers and production team of this show.  One thing which all of us including me should learn from this gang of young kids is “give theatre everything, and except nothing from it”. Like always and like most of my experiences of back stage it still remains dark and thankless!

Kishore is one of the super smart technical guys I have seen in quite some time.  He understands what ever the production needs within no time and starts giving his inputs instantly.  Am lucky to find him to rig lights for me.

Poornima helped us in assembling rehearsals to ticketing.  Her presence was essential to handle the ever building crowds at the box office. 

Ashwin did help me in concentrating more on the production.  He handled the entire money aspect and was literally the stage manager for the show. He too is a good find for Fourth Corner.  With his young energy he enthuses all around him.

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Cast & Crew of the first production of Ammavra Ganda

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About the Author

T. P. Kailasam (1884 - 1946) 

T P Kailasam was born July 29, 1884, was one of the foremost playwrights and writers of Kannada literature. His sense of humour, contribution to Kannada theatre won many hearts and earned him the title Prahasana Prapitamaha (grand old man of humorous plays). Kailasam wrote many plays, initially criticised for modern use of Kannada language in his plays, His plays became very popular, and his works are accepted to be few of the best works ever written for the Kannada theatre in its history. His plays are relevant even to this day and have a huge following among the connoisseurs of Kannada theatre.

Born a Tamilian and educated in Great Britain (his Kai days), Kailasam on his return to India just to work for Kannada. His life was dedicated to theatre and his contributions revolutionised it. His sense of humour and its application in his plays left an everlasting impression on Kannadigas.

He opposed the company theatre’s obsession with mythology and stories of royalty and shied away from overloading his plays with music. Instead, he introduced simple sets which were realistic. We could still see many theatre groups like ours still doing Kailasam only for this reason. He laid the perfect platform and foundation for current amateur theatre. We thank T P for his everlasting works which we intend to stage for quite some time to come.

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P D Sathish Chandra

This is Sathishs second production under Fourth Corner banner.  He has been working with different theatre groups from India at different times.  After his hibernation or disappearance for three years, the Ranga Shankara festival 2004, put him back in line with his passion for theatre.  He still is known for him being a theatre critic for newspapers and with special reference to Times of India.  He still continues to write for newspapers on theater and related issues.  To find two such articles CLICK HERE.  For his other theater ventures on and after 2005 CLICK HERE. For his personal profile CLICK HERE & Artist Profile CLICK HERE

Prajavani Interview

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Acknowledgements

First thanks goes to my uncle P R Sadasiva, who a strong supporter of classical music gave his beautiful house for our rehearsals.  Both my uncle and aunt Tara took care of us while we were rehearsing till late hours.

Deepthy who with her tight work and play schedule took her time off to do costumes. Big thanks to her too.

Our sole sponsor, Manjunatha Enterprises who's interest in theater supported us in the hour of need.

I also would like to thank all of YOU who visited this page and read through the literature created to support our play.