Ningalenne Communistakki
Encyclopedia
Ningalenne Communistakki is a Malayalam socio-political play by Kerala People's Arts Club
(KPAC). This was the second and most popular stage play of KPAC . This drama propelled KPAC into the forefront of kerala cultural scene and played a historical role in popularising the Communist movement in Kerala during 1950's eventually leading to the establishment of first democratically elected communist ministry in The World in 1957 in Kerala under E. M. S. Namboodiripad
.
, Kollam, on December 6, 1952. It portrayed the transition of an elderly man from a conservative upper-caste Hindu
into a Communist.The play was a protest against the feudalism
that prevailed in kerala and it was the clarion call to rise and fight oppression and exploitation. On the 85th day of its inauguration in March 1953 the play was banned by the government under the Dramatic Performances Act alleging that the play propagated "subversive ideas" and encouraged the people to "rebel against the government". Defying the ban the troupe staged the play at Kovalam
, near Thiruvananthapuram
leading to arrest of all the artists and a case was registered against them.Following intense legal battle the ban was lifted after two months. Since its appearance this play remained the most popular in Malayalam and performed in more than six thousand stages and highly influenced the course of Kerala's political history.
, then a young Communist activist who was underground for political reasons wrote the play under the pseudonym Soman. The drama was directed jointly by G. Janardhana Kurup
and N Rajagopalan Nair MLA. The songs were written by ONV Kurup and G. Devarajan
composed the music and sung by KS George and Sulochana. The main actors were Kampisseri Karunakaran MLA, Adv. G Janardhana Kurup, Adv. N Rajagopalan Nair MLA, O. Madhavan
, Thoppil Krishna Pillai (Thoppil Krishna pillai, the younger brother of Thoppil Bhasi acted in different plays of KPAC for 37 years continuously), Bhaskara Panicker, V.Sambasivan, Sreenarayana Pillai, Sulochana, Sudharma, Bhargavi and Vijayakumari. Later highly talented artists like P. J. Antony
, CG Gopinath and Adv. Kumarakom Sankunni Menon played leading roles in this play.
, Prof. MP Paul, R Sankara Narayanan Thampi, K Kesavan Potti, Adv. KS Rajamony,
N Sreedharan (in Travancore-Cochin), K.P.R. Gopalan, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, AK Gopalan, KA Keraleeyan, NE Balaram, K Damodharan, MK Kelu, Azheekkodan Raghavan, Chathunni Master, AV Kunjambu, Justice. V.R. Krishna Iyer (in Malabar), E. Balanandan
, Prithviraj Kapoor
, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
, Balraj Sahni
(in Bombay).
E.M.S. Namboodiripad, in his essays "From 'Pattabacki' to 'Ningalenne Communistakki'" (1954) and "Malayalam Theatre: 'Ningalenne Communistakki' and After" (1973), wrote that one of the major flaws of "Ningalenne Communistakki" was that the Communist characters in the play failed to impress and did not correspond to real Communists. He commented that "They are puppets with no relationship to living Communist activists,".
and Sheela
doing the lead roles.
Thoppil Bhasi's son Mr. Soman formed the Thoppil Bhasi Theatres to stage a sequel of this play titled “Enum Ente Thampranum” (Me and My Lord), the staging date is not announced yet.
Kerala People's Arts Club
Kerala People's Arts Club is a theatre movement in Kerala, India. It was formed in the 1950s by a group of individuals having close ties with Left-wing politics parties of Kerala. This political theatre was very influential in propagating communist ideas in Kerala.In 1951 KPAC staged its first...
(KPAC). This was the second and most popular stage play of KPAC . This drama propelled KPAC into the forefront of kerala cultural scene and played a historical role in popularising the Communist movement in Kerala during 1950's eventually leading to the establishment of first democratically elected communist ministry in The World in 1957 in Kerala under E. M. S. Namboodiripad
E. M. S. Namboodiripad
Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad, , popularly known as EMS, was an Indian Communist leader and the first Chief Minister of Kerala. As the first non-Congress chief minister in independent India, he became the leader of the first democratically elected communist government in the world...
.
The history
The drama was inaugurated at ChavaraChavara
Chavara is approximately 14 km north of Kollam City on the Kollam-Alappuzha highway in India. Tonnes of mineral sand, mainly titanium, are exported from Chavara to various countries. The Kovilthottam port is situated within the limits of Chavara Panchayat.Kovilthottam is a strip of land ...
, Kollam, on December 6, 1952. It portrayed the transition of an elderly man from a conservative upper-caste Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
into a Communist.The play was a protest against the feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
that prevailed in kerala and it was the clarion call to rise and fight oppression and exploitation. On the 85th day of its inauguration in March 1953 the play was banned by the government under the Dramatic Performances Act alleging that the play propagated "subversive ideas" and encouraged the people to "rebel against the government". Defying the ban the troupe staged the play at Kovalam
Kovalam
Kovalam is a beach town on the Arabian Sea in Thiruvananthapuram city, Kerala, India. It is located around 13 km from the down town of Trivandrum.-Etymology:...
, near Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
leading to arrest of all the artists and a case was registered against them.Following intense legal battle the ban was lifted after two months. Since its appearance this play remained the most popular in Malayalam and performed in more than six thousand stages and highly influenced the course of Kerala's political history.
The artists
Thoppil BhasiThoppil Bhasi
Thoppil Bhasi was a Malayalam playwright, screenwriter, and film director. He was associated with the communist movement in Kerala and his play Ningalenne Communistakki is considered to be a groundbreaking event in the history of Malayalam theatre.Thoppil Bhasi was born in Vallikunnam, a small...
, then a young Communist activist who was underground for political reasons wrote the play under the pseudonym Soman. The drama was directed jointly by G. Janardhana Kurup
G. Janardhana Kurup
G. Janardhana Kurup was an Indian lawyer and communist politician. He grew up in Kollam, and joined the struggle for Indian independence at an early age. In the 1950s he took part in founding the Kerala People's Arts Club....
and N Rajagopalan Nair MLA. The songs were written by ONV Kurup and G. Devarajan
G. Devarajan
Paravoor Govindan Devarajan , popularly known as G. Devarajan or Devarajan master, was a noted Malayalam music composer, died on March 15, 2006 in Chennai, at the age of 80....
composed the music and sung by KS George and Sulochana. The main actors were Kampisseri Karunakaran MLA, Adv. G Janardhana Kurup, Adv. N Rajagopalan Nair MLA, O. Madhavan
O. Madhavan
O. Madhavan was an Indian theatre director and actor. He was one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India in Kerala. He is considered as one of the great masters of the theatre, he has made major contributions for the evolution of theatre in Kerala...
, Thoppil Krishna Pillai (Thoppil Krishna pillai, the younger brother of Thoppil Bhasi acted in different plays of KPAC for 37 years continuously), Bhaskara Panicker, V.Sambasivan, Sreenarayana Pillai, Sulochana, Sudharma, Bhargavi and Vijayakumari. Later highly talented artists like P. J. Antony
P. J. Antony
P. J. Antony was a Malayalam film actor. He received the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Nirmalyam in 1974. He was also the first actor working in Malayalam cinema to receive the award...
, CG Gopinath and Adv. Kumarakom Sankunni Menon played leading roles in this play.
Patrons and prominent persons behind the staging of 'Ningalenne Communistakki'
M. N. Govindan NairM. N. Govindan Nair
M.N. Govindan Nair popularly known as MN was born in Pandalam presently in Pathanamthitta District.-Political life:He was one of the foremost leaders of the Communist Party of India in Kerala...
, Prof. MP Paul, R Sankara Narayanan Thampi, K Kesavan Potti, Adv. KS Rajamony,
N Sreedharan (in Travancore-Cochin), K.P.R. Gopalan, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, AK Gopalan, KA Keraleeyan, NE Balaram, K Damodharan, MK Kelu, Azheekkodan Raghavan, Chathunni Master, AV Kunjambu, Justice. V.R. Krishna Iyer (in Malabar), E. Balanandan
E. Balanandan
E. Balanandan was a communist politician from the Kerala State of India. He had been a member of the Communist Party of India 's politburo since 1978...
, Prithviraj Kapoor
Prithviraj Kapoor
Prithviraj Kapoor , 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was a pioneer of Indian theatre and of the Hindi film industry, who started his career as an actor, in the silent era of Hindi cinema, associated with IPTA and who founded Prithvi Theatres, a travelling theatre company based in Mumbai, in...
, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas , popularly known as K. A. Abbas, was an Indian film director, novelist, screenwriter, and a journalist in the Urdu, Hindi and English languages...
, Balraj Sahni
Balraj Sahni
Balraj Sahni , born Yudhishthir Sahni , was a famous Hindi film actor. He belonged to a Punjabi Khatri family from Bhera now in Punjab, Pakistan...
(in Bombay).
Comments and Criticisms
The research scholar Robin Jeffrey commented: "It swept like a storm for months up and down kerala. You Made Me a Communist, both symbolised and extended kerala's changing political culture. The fact that audiences responded so enthusiastically indicated that they sympathized with the ideas of equality and struggle that the play sought to convey...The efforts to ban the play testified to its effectiveness."E.M.S. Namboodiripad, in his essays "From 'Pattabacki' to 'Ningalenne Communistakki'" (1954) and "Malayalam Theatre: 'Ningalenne Communistakki' and After" (1973), wrote that one of the major flaws of "Ningalenne Communistakki" was that the Communist characters in the play failed to impress and did not correspond to real Communists. He commented that "They are puppets with no relationship to living Communist activists,".
Trivia
The drama was made as a malayalam movie in 1970 with the same name with Prem NazirPrem Nazir
Abdul Khader , better known by his stage name Prem Nazir , was an Indian film actor. He is considered one of the all time super stars in Malayalam cinema...
and Sheela
Sheela
Sheela ), is a Malayalam film actress from India. She, along with Prem Nazir, holds the world record for acting in the largest number of films together as heroine and hero. In 2005 she won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Malayalam film Akale. She has also...
doing the lead roles.
Thoppil Bhasi's son Mr. Soman formed the Thoppil Bhasi Theatres to stage a sequel of this play titled “Enum Ente Thampranum” (Me and My Lord), the staging date is not announced yet.