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Career in Theatre for Annadurai Canjeevaram Natarajan In 1944 Annadurai Canjeevaram Natarajan's first play, the propagandist Chandrodayam i.e. "Moonrise" was staged at the party conference in Erode. The author performed the roles of three villains, and his protege M. Karunanidhi also acted. The soon-to-be-famous star Sivaji Ganesan earned his nickname after taking the lead in Annadurai's historical Sivaji kanda indu samrajyam i.e. "The Hindu Empire Founded by Shivaji" in 1946. Anna launched his Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party in 1949. Of about forty plays, prominent ones included the radical and almost atheistic Velaikkari i.e. "Maidservant", or iravu i.e. "One Night", and Niti devan mayakkam or "Dilemma of the God of Justice". Annadurai, Canjeevaram Natarajan also penned many one-act scripts. Although most political parties have used theatre and cinema for propaganda, Annadurai, Canjeevaram Natarajan's initiative made the Dravidian movement unequalled in its media strategies. Among his screenplays, Velaikkari and Nallatambi were the first and also the most successful. Both were the productions of 1949. Linguistically, the drama by Annadurai Canjeevaram Natarajan introduced a new rhetoric in Tamil language that remains in vogue, though cliched today. Thematically, it gave voice to the emotions of social underdogs such as women, servants, and Dalits and also documented the concrete realities of contemporary society. It shattered feudal structures, mocked superstitions, resisted inequalities, and exposed women's plight. Typically, it showed poor protagonists suffering and finally rebelling against upper-class oppressors. The Tamil stage, hitherto treading the path of Puranic shaivism tales and imaginary royalty, came down to everyday life with Annadurai, Canjeevaram Natarajan's efforts. K. R. Ramasamy's group usually performed his plays. Annadurai Canjeevaram Natarajan died in the year of 1969. (Last Updated on : 28-03-2012) |
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