‘Tiruchiyai Meeta Sundarapandiyan’ is about hilarious misadventures of a journey

On a day when Section 144 has been imposed across Tamil Nadu, four strangers find themselves compelled to share a taxi headed to the city of Trichy. Mohanapriya, a young girl who has fled from home; Peter, a news reporter tasked with covering events in Trichy; Thanikachalam, a young man grappling with a broken heart; and Sundarapandian, the cab driver who vows to ensure their safe journey. However, their plans take an unexpected turn when they stop for tea near Tindivanam. What unfolds is a comedic evening filled with the misadventures of these youngsters, navigating not only their way to Trichy but also their paths in life.

Arun Rajkumar’s Tiruchiyai Meeta Sundarapandiyan (Sundarapandiyan, the man who reclaimed Tiruchy) is a hilarious play, to say the least. The play is “an attempted comedy”, as the writer-director puts it, with six characters. The genesis of the play traces back to a real-life incident: a ride in a cab in Coimbatore with a young driver who spun larger-than-life tales about himself. “I started contemplating the possibility that these stories were concocted on the spot to impress and secure a generous tip. This sparked the initial inspiration. Although the final play deviated from this premise, it served as the catalyst for exploring a narrative set within the confines of a taxi. As I introduced more passengers to the cab, new ideas sprouted, eventually evolving into the play in its entirety,” Arun tells us.

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Arun is part of a theatre group called the Karpanai Kudhirai for which he has written a couple of plays before that dealt with serious subjects. “For a while, the idea of delving into the creation of a full-length comedy play had been lingering in my mind, but I lacked the courage to take the plunge,” he tells us. Writing comedy, Arun believed, was a tricky endeavour — people are moved emotionally by similar things, yet laughter is evoked by entirely different triggers. “Despite this hesitation, I ventured into writing a 10-minute comedy play for the recently concluded Short & Sweet Theatre Festival, and to my surprise, it clinched the Best Script Award. This bolstered my confidence and emboldened me to embark on the challenge of a longer comedy script. The impetus for this came, in part, from the encouragement of one of the play’s actors, Navaneeth,” shares Arun.

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The artistes who will leave you splits in this 70 minutes comedy include Rajbarath Murali, who plays the title role of Sundarapandiyan — a taxi driver, Subhiksha Sridharan plays Mohanapriya — a young girl who has fled her home; Paramesh Sathya will be seen in the role of Thanikachalam — a young man with a broken heart; Navaneeth plays Peter — a news reporter; Harini Thiruvenkadam will be seen as Maharani; and Sanchita Raghunath as Avasara Police Parimala. 

Tickets at Rs 300.
January 28, 7 pm.
At Medai – The Stage, Alwarpet.

Email: rupam@newindianexpress.com
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