Chintamani Natakam stays close to hearts

The play 'Chintamani' that has a history of over 100 years will now remain off the stage as the Andhra Pradesh government imposed a ban on it.

The development has certainly sparked a considerable curiosity among the connoisseurs to dig out the reason behind the objection raised by the Arya Vysya community which eventually led to the ban on Chintamani Natakam.

Written in 1920 by social reformer Kallakuri Narayana Rao, the play revolved around Chintamani, a courtesan devoted to Lord Krishna.

Those who are surviving by staging the play opine that changes could have been considered by involving the stakeholders rather than enforcing a blanket ban on the natakam.

A majority of the artiste associations' representatives mentioned that the decision should have been made by considering the views of artistes along with community heads who raised objections with the government representatives.

While some welcome the move, a majority of sections oppose the ban. "The character of Subbi Setty was altered by various troupes to suit their whims and fancies. This has led to controversy and eventually a ban. By changing Subbi's name and editing his character a bit, the play could still have been continued. But the government has taken a unilateral decision which is not appropriate," opines Meegada Ramalinga Swami, a noted actor of verse drama, director and writer, who bagged 27 Nandi awards.

Followed by the objections raised by the Arya Vysya community claiming that the play had offensive content, the Andhra Pradesh government issued a GO to ban Chintamani Natakam.

In the play, Subbi Setty, a trader from Vysya community, loses all his wealth because of his weakness towards frequenting a brothel house. This, particularly, did not go down well among the community. Also, Subbi's appearance and his voice drew severe criticism among various quarters.

Artistes who presented Chintamani Natakam say that there is a need to go through the original content written by Narayana Rao as, they claim, there's nothing objectionable in it. However, in order to add entertainment quotient to the natakam, the artistes say, some of the organisers had tweaked the content to suit the viewers and presented it with a tinge of vulgarity.

Elaborating about the ban, Pagadi Vijay Sai, one of the artistes of Chintamani, says, "So far, we have enacted some of the characters of Chintamani over 2,000 times across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha. I entered theatre arts at the age of eight years. I have so far essayed five of the main characters of the play effortlessly. If the portrayal of a character bothers a section of people, it should have been edited accordingly instead of imposing a ban on the historic play. If dust enters our eyes, we end up cleaning them with water but certainly not try to remove them."

Calling for an amicable resolution, founder of Ranga Sai Natak Sangham Badamgir Sai, says, "Thousands of artistes survive based on the income earned through the play. In case of any objection, the stakeholders and government representatives should work towards an amicable resolution and imposing a ban on the play is not correct."

Sharing their opinions, Arya Vysya Yuvajana Sangham secretary K Jagadish and former member of the sangham Uppala Bhaskara Rao, say, "We are only against the portrayal of Subbi Setty's character. When we raised objections, we had no intention to either hit the morale of the artistes or their livelihood. The play could be continued by changing the role of Subbi or replacing it with another character."

With tvhe GO already released to ban the play, agitation emerged in various parts of the state opposing the government's decision. Meanwhile, a few of the theatre arts association representatives are planning to file a petition in the court against the government's decision.