Sajitha Madathil has been here with us for quite a long time. On big screen, she had a Midas touch on everything that came across her way. Her films and characters were either widely discussed or appreciated. On television ads, she greeted us in our visiting rooms as an uncompromising voice of femininity. Still, she missed out on something, there was a vacuum. Putting an end to her six-year-long theatre hibernation, the actor is back to don the greasepaint again. The Lokadharmi Theatre production Kalinatakam is bringing her again on stage as an actor-cum-playwright. Kali has got into her head and Sajitha has no looking back now.
The ‘Kali-Darikan’ battle in the ritualistic ‘Mudiyettu’ gets a reloaded re-birth here.
“The story is happening against the backdrop of a temple hosting this ritual. Deviating from the norms, here a woman handles the part of Kali. As with the ritual, Darikan is being killed by Kali — but here, the killing takes place for real. Police arrives on the scene and she gets interrogated. But she has the smarts to hide behind the veneer of myth and get her stance cleared. Here we can find parallels in society, people who deftly escape punishment with their political astute,” she explains.
Kalinatakam has many industry veterans appearing on and off stage. Actor, screenwriter P. Balachandran, singer Resmi Sateesh, Rakesh Sharma, Sunil Sukhada and so on appear as characters while Paris Chandran scores music, Pattanam Rasheed handles the makeup and Sreekanth arranges lighting. Directed by Lokadharmi founder Chandradasan, the play is being produced by the Chennai Film Factory.
Was there any reason for Sajitha to take a hiatus from theatre? “I was busy with my job. And of course, a play can’t be done that easily as a movie,” she clarifies. Kalinatakam gives equal space for acting and music. In addition to veterans, 15 talents picked from a workshop also play their parts. The workshop was led by Mudiyettu exponent Varanattu Narayana Kurup. The staging is scheduled for August.
