Pammal Campanta Mudaliar

Pammal Campanta Mudaliar was one of the most renowned authors and playwrights in Tamil Literature, who lived from the year 1873 to 1964. He worked for the development and evolution of the Tamil drama for almost half a century, and evolved the medium to a position of propriety. Pammal Campanta Mudaliar established the Cukunavilaca Sabha which was the earliest Tamil dramatic society in the city of Madras (now Chennai) in the year 1891. The Cukunavilaca Sabha instantly developed as the center of dramatic activity in the region and several plays were staged in the premises of the society. Most of the plays that were performed there were mainly composed and directed by Campanta Mudaliar. He encouraged many lawyers and other professionals to act in plays and dramas and also to participate in the activities of the Cukunavilaca Sabha. It was considered as a rare privilege to perform and act in the plays and dramas that were written and directed by Pammal Campanta Mudaliar.

Pammal Campanta Mudaliar wrote and staged Puspavalli, the first social drama in Tamil Nadu, in the year 1893. Eventually the Tamil playwright and author wrote almost 90 original plays and also translated various other plays from Sanskrit and English literatures into Tamil literature. The services provided by Pammal Campanta Mudaliar towards the development in the field of Tamil plays and drama remains unmatched. Some of his most outstanding and remarkable plays include Vetala Ulakam, Kalvar Talaivan, Irantu Nanparkal, Manokara and Iratnavali. These works prove his skills and talents as a creative writer of Tamil plays.

The play titled Capapati is one of his most prominent works and remains unmatched in terms of humour and wit. Pammal Campanta Mudaliar also translated various plays composed by William Shakespeare namely Cymbeline, As You Like It, Merchant of Venice, Hamlet and Macbeth, into Tamil language. Further more, he also translated some Sanskrit plays as well, such as Malavikaknimitram, Cakuntalam and Vikramorvaciyam. The interest, experience and competence of Pammal Campanta Mudaliar in the field of Tamil drama are clearly witnessed in his own works of Natakat Tamil, Natakametai Ninaivukal and Natakak Kalaiyil Tercciperuvatu Eppati.

Unlike another great Tamil playwright Cankaratas Cuvamikal, Pammal Campanta Mudaliar followed western tradition and composed all his works in prose. The dialogues were written in prose and songs were utilised as background music. The dialogues were simple and uncomplicated without alliterations and assonances.