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The Adventures of Morty by Shraddha Anu Shekar
With all the unpleasant news going around us, I felt like reading a book that was fun and light. What’s better for doing this than a kids genre book? I went to my son’s bookshelf to find this small book (64 pages) which was written a few years ago. The vibrant blue hues and the picture of a cute little girl drew me to it. The book titled “The Adventures of Morty”: The Famous Turtle Detective is Here! was written by Shraddha Anu Shekar, her parents Pravin Shekar and Anu Krishnamoorthy are good friends of mine. The book is a short story compilation of the adventures of a little girl…
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Homemaker – Tamil Play by Shraddha
I have been a regular to Shraddha Theatres plays in Tamil for the last many years. Today, they had the first show of their new play “Home Maker” written by Anand Raghav. It was about how the woman of the house, the housewife, sacrifices her dreams and plays an important role in the well-being of the family. She cooks, teaches, manages the finance, procures supplies, nurses the sick and much much more. Yet, her role is not appreciated by her own spouse, or respected by her children, for many working in a job and earning is the only sign of success in life. In this play, we see one such…
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Ramanujar – Tamil Play by Shraddha
Ramanujar (ராமானுஜர்) is a new Tamil Play by Shraddha Theatres, a theatre group in Chennai. The play written by Sahitya Academy awarded author Indira Parthasarathy, is a biography on one of the most important exponents and Acharya (Guru) of Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism– Sri Ramanujar (ஸ்ரீ ராமானுஜர்). This year (2017), marks the 1000th year of the saint – throughout the year many organisations have been conducting programs remembering Sri Ramanuja’s life and his teachings. Last two years, there was a TV Series too on “Ramanujar” written by former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Kalaignar Karunanidhi. Shraddha’s play on Sri Ramanujar, runs for two-and-half-hour and is directed by G. Krishnamurthy. Probably after many decades, a Tamil Play on…
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Aurangzeb by Shraddha
Why is there no Black Taj Mahal across the Yamuna River facing the Taj Mahal in Agra? How did Islam manage to entrench itself & flourish in Hindustan before the arrival of Europeans? Using the name of Religion for their self interest by rulers of India, is it a recent trend? Why did Aurangzeb kill his brother and have his father Shah Jahan arrested? What power did the royal harem have in the Mughal empire? If you wish to know the story behind these, book your tickets and watch Shraddha Theatres “Aurangzeb“. A brilliant theatrical attempt to tell the story of the last powerful Mughal rulers of India. The historical play is based on a…
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Sadhurangam by Shraddha Theatres
Happy Birthday Shraddha Theatres for completing 5 years, you have been doing an exceptional work in promoting Tamil Theatre and many budding talents on stage. Their latest production is Sadhurangam, an unconventional theme for a theatre play. Based on a story by Anand Raghav it’s about struggle of innocent people everywhere caught in armed conflict zones. For Indians like me who are far removed from North East parts of our country, Manipur state is a small dot in map and recalled only for it’s natural beauty and for armed conflicts like rest of the region. We have been led to believe that our neighbouring states China and Pakistan are mostly responsible for peace not prevailing…
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Bharathi by Shraddha
Shraddha theatre group have done 15 plays in their four years of founding. The 15 plays have been across genres, all staged with the goal of promoting Tamil Theatre and encouraging the habit of watching Live Theatre with the youngsters. This week’s play, in celebration of annual Children’s Day in India (November 14th) is called பாரதி (Bharathi). The title (Bharathi) of the play that I saw today is of a little girl with that name in the play, and is not named after the Great Tamil (Freedom struggle fame) poet Thiru.Subramania Bharathi (மகாகவி சுப்பிரமணிய பாரதி). Its a story that’s easily understood as one which is a fusion between “Alice in the Wonderland” and “Toy Story” for the Indian setting. In the story, we…
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Hanuman by Shraddha
Shraddha, the Tamil theatre group have been running their new play “Hanuman” for last few days. Today was the last day in Narada Gana Sabha, Alwarpet and I didn’t miss it. The 90 minutes play “Hanuman” is a new genre for Tamil play, its story happens in Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from the time of a failed rocket launch (wasting Rs.400 Crores) to a successful launch of a indigenous cryogenic rocket. Hanuman was written and directed by V. Sreevathson, who also has played the main character of ISRO Chairman Dr.Lakshman. The reusable Rocket (Hanuman) was build by sheer determination of the scientists after months of hard work against all…
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Maara (2021)
Maara (2021) stars one of the loved on-screen couples in recent years Tamil cinema (from Vikram Vedha) of Madhavan and Shraddha Srinath. Unfortunately in this film, they are hardly seen together. The first two hours of the film goes uneventful, predictable and if you can endure it, the last 20 minutes featuring the veteran Moulee is a conciliation. The incohesive screenplay feels clumsy if I were to be kind. The film is available on Amazon Prime Video. The film is about a lady Paru (Shraddha) who is going around in search of an artist named Maara (Madhavan) who has painted an uncommon story she has heard in her childhood. For…