'Stage shows have their own charm'

Visakhapatnam: As an artiste, Soorya Krishnamoorthy, founder of Soorya Stage and Film Society, the largest cultural forum of the world, says that no online festival can match up with the charm of a stage show.

In an interview, Soorya, who came to Visakhapatnam for the first time, shares his passion, love for stage shows and his untiring efforts to contribute to the field of art with The Hans India. "Though we have conducted the largest online festival that lasted for 300 days, it is not equal to a stage programme," claims Soorya.

Bidding adieu to his 27-year-long glorious stint with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as an engineer/scientist, Soorya decided to contribute to the world of art much against the wishes of his family then. "Income has come to a halt. But it did not dissuade me from marching forward. We need to listen to our 'inner command' at some point of time," recalls Soorya, who has so far directed 106 stage shows across the world. His society has chapters in 40 countries.

Soorya says, "For every person, the 'screenplay' has already been written by God. We only end up playing the role sooner or later."

Recalling his days in ISRO, Soorya recalls, "Who says science and art do not coexist? A real artiste will be a real scientist too and vice-versa. Former President A P J Abdul Kalam, scientists P N Subramaniam and C R Sathya with whom I was working with were also artistically inclined. Abdul Kalam used to play Veena every morning for an hour."

Though the coronavirus pandemic confined him to online shows, the 69-year-old art connoisseur says that he doesn't derive any pleasure from the 'cut-copy-paste' formula or hosting online festivals. "True happiness lies on stage. There is something called 'mano dharmam' that unfolds on stage. Depending on the pulse of the audience, environment and the mood, the drama presentation varies. That's the beauty of the theatre arts," shares the dimple-cheeked theatre director.

When Soorya embarked upon the artistic path, there were a few aspects he wanted to focus on. "One, providing livelihood to the weaker sections through organising stage shows. Two, offering a platform to people who are artistically inclined. Three, uplifting women," he says.

As part of his contribution to society, Soorya has set aside a portion of his residence in Thiruvananthapuram which he converted into a fully-equipped 400-capacity black box theatre with gallery seating. "All artistes have to do is to come up with a quality presentation.

The facility is provided free of cost for them. We also made a proposal of bringing up such cultural complexes in all the districts across Kerala by utilising vacant government lands. It is brought to the notice of the state Chief Minister as well," says Soorya, a recipient of 200 national and international awards, including 'Kalaimamani', president of India's National Award for Stage Craft and Direction and 'Kalabandhu'. The theatre director is excited about launching his next book 'Nurunguvettam' in Malayalam next month and resume hosting film festivals.