It is raining outside. Onam celebrations at Kalabhavan, situated in Ernakulam North, have just begun. A group of students are performing a dance while others await their turn. The alumni of Kalabhavan, including director Siddique and K.S. Prasad, grace the occasion. It is after a gap that the institute is coming up with such a zestful celebration. In fact, Kalabhavan is on a revival mode. The celebration venue also marks the restoration of the popular Mimics Parade, one of the programmes that earned Kalabhavan a name. A new team comes on stage and does a skit on a popular scene from Manichithrathazhu. The artistes – Biju Thiruvalla, Idavela Rafi, Vipin Balan, Aneesh Changanacherry and Rakesh Punnapra – are hopeful.
“We were selected to the Mimics Parade through an audition. We hope it will be a turning point in our lives,” says Rafi. All of them hail from world of mini-screen comedy shows and serials. The exception is Vipin, who has been hosting a news show on TV. As K.S. Prasad, secretary of Kalabhavan and one of the first members of the Mimics Parade team, says, it is a new beginning. “It is not that Kalabhavan didn’t focus on mimicry. It has been there, but not as a full-fledged programme,” he says. What is the significance of this institute and its Mimics Parade?
It gave the Malayalam film industry numerous talents. From Siddique, Lal, Zainuddin, Jayaram, Harishree Asokan, Kalabhavan Rahman, N.F. Varghese, Salim Kumar and Kalabhavan Mani to Shajohn, the list is vast. Back in the 80s, when Mimics Parade came up, it was a novel experience for Malayalis. Siddique, who was part of the group that formed Mimics Parade, feels proud to recall that journey. “Before the formation of Mimics Parade, mimicry was just an item performed during the interval of Kalabhavan’s ganamela. But, it was widely appreciated. Adv K.V. Prakash, the then secretary of Kalabhavan realised its potential. He discussed the possibility of starting a two-and-a-half-hour mimicry programme with Abel Achan (the founder), who also liked it. They planned to execute it with a five-member team that consisted of Varkkichan, Ansar, Prasad, Asok and Hakkim. But, it didn’t work out as expected and hence they decided to drop it,” Siddique begins.
Lal’s (Siddique-Lal pair) father, who was a music teacher at Kalabhavan, suggested the duo’s name to Fr Abel. Siddique and Lal went to Kalabhavan and did a performance, which the management liked. “Our performance was different. That was the time when robots were introduced in the West. We did a humorous performance that showed a man bringing a robot here and its after effects. They were impressed and asked us to work on the mimicry troupe,” he says. By then, Asokan and Hakkim left the group. Siddique, Lal, Varkkichan, Ansar and Prasad sat down to have a discussion. “We realised why the idea failed. We briefed Abel Achan and K.V. Prakash about the need for a script. The next question was ‘how to do the script?’ We said we would take care of that. In fact, that was the first script by Siddique and Lal,” smiles Siddique.
Everybody liked the script that was written like a story. “But we told Prakash to take the credit as we didn’t want to hurt the ego of the senior members of Kalabhavan.” Prakash presented it before the management and they liked it. After a year, Prakash revealed the real brains behind the script. Mimics Parade’s first show was about the Thrissur Pooram. “Imitating actors, animals and vehicles was in vogue then. We realised that was not enough. We zeroed in on Thrissur Pooram, where we had to replicate a lot of sounds – for instance, sound of instruments, crowd and fireworks. We wrapped it with humour,” he says.
Their first performance at the Fine Arts Hall in Ernakulam, was an instant hit. And after a performance at the Thiruvananthapuram University College, there was no looking back. “I wanted to give the show an independent name as none of us were meant to stay there forever. The first name was Mimics Night, but I opposed it because programmes were mostly held during day. Hence, I named it Mimics Parade,” recalls Siddique. Over time, the core members left the troupe and fresh faces came in. Siddique and Lal formed Harisree. But Mimics Parade stood the test of time. “The effort we put in still reflects. We never thought Mimics Parade would become such a hit. Abel Achan wanted to see Kalabhavan’s talents in cinema. See, now how many we have,” he concludes.
