Chennai: Everyone of us has fond memories of dressing up as Lord Shiva or Goddess Parvati or Superman or Spiderman for a fancy dress contest in schools. We may have stopped taking part from middle school.
But in the case of S Sruuthi, a grade 11 student of a private school in the city, what started at an elementary level has now earned her the ‘Kalai Ilavani’ award from the State government for excellence in the field of theatre.
Sruuthi says, “Right from the age of three, I started participating in stage shows. Fancy dress competition was the first-ever stage presentation when I dressed up as Lord Muruga and said “Yaamirukka Bayamen”. From childhood, my parents always made me learn dialogues and encouraged me to go on stage and perform. Since I was trained so early, the passion got ingrained in me and I acted effortlessly looking at the performances of my father and grandfather.”
Two generations of Sruuthi’s family have been associated with performing arts that gave Sruuthi more opportunities to witness stage plays. Her father, S Shivpprasadh, has his own production house “Nataka Kavalar Chemmal R S Manohar NXG” which was founded in the memory of his grandfather R S Manohar.
With her family backing, and supporting her passion, she made her stage appearance for a theatrical play in 2014. “Active participation in on-stage events established my love for theatre which I witnessed in Kartik Fine Arts’ Kodai Nataka Vizha in 2014. Our production house staged our first drama, ‘Vaitthiyar Mappillai’ and it so happened that it was my first experience as an actress in a play.”
Following this, the 16-year-old went on to perform in other in-house productions like Kanchi Kamakshi Amman, Sathya Sai Baba Arpudhangal, Sri Ranganatharin Magimaigal and Manasatchi.
Recalling one of the school dramas, she adds, “I acted as the dean and director of my school, PSBB, which impressed everyone and they appreciated me for keeping the spirits up.”
When asked about the specific role she cherishes the most, she pauses for a moment in search of an answer. “I cannot name a single character: every role I play is unique in its own way and it is very difficult for me to pick one,” she chuckles.
For Sruuthi practices well in advance at home with her parents helping her with emotions. She continues the practice with the troupe as they rehearse two weeks before the inauguration of the play, to polish the role.
In addition to on-stage events, Sruuthi has also done back-stage work and helped her production house in designing the stage. Her additional interests include singing and dancing Bharatanatyam to the taalas of Carnatic music.
However, this young girl does not stop dreaming and has high ambitions. “Over the years, cinema has grown to an extraordinary level and people have forgotten live performances. I want to show the younger and future generation the importance of an art like theatre and would continue to work towards it,” she says.