SL Naanu’s Sikkal Sivaraman takes a light-hearted look at life

Veteran actor Kathadi Ramamurthu in Stage Creations’ Tamil play Sikkal Sivaraman.
| Photo Credit: RAGU R

In Stage Creations’ play Sikkal Sivaraman (story, dialogues, and direction are by S.L. Naanu), Chellappa (Naanu) decides to get his son married in a Pillayar temple to the daughter of Parameswaran (Ganapathy Shankar). Unbeknownst to Chellappa, his son secretly plans to get married in the same temple, to Nandini’s (Anu Suresh) sister Hema. Chellappa disapproves of Hema, but does not know that she is the daughter of Parameswaran. Lalitha’s daughter Janu is about to get married to Suresh in the same Pillayar temple, without Chellappa’s knowledge, because he disapproves of this match too. And why is he interested in stopping this marriage? Because he is Lalitha’s cousin, and feels duty bound to protect her interests. Sounds pretty confusing, doesn’t it?

Sikkal Sivaraman (Kathadi Ramamurthy) is the man behind the muddle. Sikkal means knots, and knotty problems have a way of finding Sivaraman. Kathadi is so spry (touch wood) that you wouldn’t say he is well into his eighties. He breezes in and out of the scenes, delivering his lines with ease.

Sivaraman is not just the creator of knots, but also knows how to unravel them, so that everyone is left with the feeling of ‘All’s well that ends well.’

In his plays, Naanu always has sideswipes at fads. In Sikkal Sivaraman, he makes fun of those ubiquitous YouTube channels, which give you tips about how to clean your kitchen, how to fold clothes, etc, making mundane chores seem like rocket science. And we can all relate to Kathadi’s constant need to check Whatsapp messages.

Naanu also shows how matchmaking has acquired the dimensions of a profession. If in the 1970s and 1980s, we had eligible grooms making impossible demands of the prospective bride, it is now the turn of the girls to make equally impossible demands, and Naanu highlights this too. Nothing is good enough for Janu, who rejects one proposal after another for frivolous reasons, until Nature takes over and makes her fall in love with Suresh. As usual, this is a light-hearted play from Naanu, known for taking a humorous look at life.