R B Jagadish
Daijiworld Media Network - Karkala (SP)

Karkala, Mar 26: An endeavour that was once thought impossible, is being made possible by a family that has been involved with this silent revolution in a rural area located at the foot of Western Ghats. Mudrady's 'Nama Tuluver' of Natka fame from Mudrady, comprising an entire family, has totally dedicated itself to the service of Goddess of theatre and has been instrumental in enabling the group to shine at international level.

Sukumar Mohan

Mohan and his wife Kamala

Mudrady Natka Family

The drama troupe, 'Nilaya Kalavidaru', which was set up in 1986 due to the initiatives of Dharmayogi Mohan, managing trustee of Goddess Adhishakti temple at Mudrary, was renamed as 'Nama Tuluver' organization of artistes during the decennial year. Sukumar Mohan, son of Mohan, who got interested in Yakshagana at a young age because of the influence of his father, entered theatre when he was 11. Sukumar, who applied make up for the first time in the presence of the deity of the family temple, and his troupe have never looked back after totally submerging themselves in theatre activities. Even though Sukumar did not get proper training through academic institutions, he got trained and honed under the guidance of some leading theatre artistes and personalities . The entire family of actor and director, Sukumar Mohan, is involved with theatre activities, and the family is supported in its endeavour by some local artistes.

This organization, which has been earnestly serving the field of art after being born in the presence of Goddess Adishakti, has received universal acclaim from lovers of art. The 'Nama Tuluver' troupe, which originally confined itself to organizing of a nine-day programme of plays titled 'Navarangotsava', gradually forayed into the gamut of street plays meant to spread social awareness, education, health awareness, and those meant to educate people about the rights of children and women.

It has also been serving the cause of theatre by spreading knowledge about modern theatre experiments among young talents and students of schools and colleges. The troupe has also created among hundreds of talented youngsters an interest in theatre and inspired them to take to theatre. Because of the yeoman services of Sukumar Mohan, Mudrady gram panchayat has named the area where this activity is blossoming, as 'Natkaduru'. Mudrady's Natkaduru is growing on the lines of Heggodu on account of theatre activities of Sukumar Mohan. Stalwarts like Hamsalekha, Nagabharana, H S Shivaprakash, Dr M Veerappa Moily, Dr B Jayashree, Yenagi Balappa, Master Hirannaiah, and many others have hailed the efforts of this family and this troupe towards popularizing this art form.

Sukumar Mohan nurses the dream of building a huge open air theatre equipped with complete range of stage equipment at Mudrady. In spite of plethora of television channels, the plays of Natkaduru have their own committed set of audience. The troupe has been conducting national drama festivals annually since the last five years, in which plays in different languages in the country are presented. The troupe also honours high achievers in the field with titles like Karnata Nada Poshaka, and Rashtreeya Natka Samman national award. The troupe has completed over a thousand presentation of street plays. On World Theatre Day, the 200th show of its multi-lingual award-winning play, 'Pilipattigadas', will be presented. The troupe led by Sukumar Mohan, which has so far performed 38 plays, has won a number of state and national level awards. 'Nama Tuluver' has also achieved the distinction of presenting shows at Bengaluru, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Dubai etc in addition its own base.

Artistes of 'Natka' have won a number of awards. Sukumar Mohan has got state level awards like CGK Award, Suvarna Ranga Samman award, etc. He has also served as the member of Karnataka State Nataka Academy. Because of this troupe, mention of Mudrady many a time causes the other to query whether it is the place of 'Nama Tuluver' organization. Temple trustee, Mohan, and Kamala Mohan, continue to bless and guide this troupe. In addition to Sukumar, his wife, Vani Sukumar, sister, Sugandhi, brother-in-law, Umesh Kalmadi, brothers, Surendra Mohan and Sudhindra Mohan, Pavitra Suendra Mohan, and Poornima Sudhindra Mohan, are involved with service of theatre. Young children, Swastik and Swarnika have also acted in plays.

On the eve of World Theatre Day which is on March 27, we wish that 'Nama Tuluver' troupe scales higher echelons of achievements and fame in the coming days.