A theatre troupe with a 130-year legacy, the Surabhi group was famous for staging Hindu mythological plays. However, several members of this family-run drama company have today moved out of theatre to eke out a living. Among them is Ramesh, popularly known as Surabhi Ramesh, who works as a radio jockey in Hyderabad. After completing his PhD in theatre arts, Ramesh is now on a mission to popularise theatre among the masses and once again bring the Surabhi troupe members under a common roof.
The Surabhi group, originally from Maharashtra, had migrated to the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh in the 1890s during communal clashes in the region. The families scattered across the Telugu states, with each family forming a theatre group of their own.
“Our families were originally puppeteers who migrated to Andhra. During their stay, they were once invited by the elders of the Surabhi village in Kadapa to perform at a wedding. When the performers decided to stage a play instead of the regular puppet show, the organisers agreed to the plan. The villagers were so impressed with the performances that they invited the group to stay in the village and stage plays at weddings and temple festivals. The families never stayed in a single place. They moved out of Surabhi village in 3-4 months and but the name Surabhi Natakalu Company has stuck with us since then,” Ramesh narrates.
With around 3,000 members in the profession, the drama companies used to be a close-knit community. Marriages were performed within the larger families to ensure that the artistes in the family were kept away from scrutiny and social criticism. From infants to septuagenarians, every member in the family donned the hat of a theatre artiste, including the women.
“Unlike in earlier times, the women of Surabhi families have been an integral part of our plays. While it was common for men to play female characters, Surabhi had women playing Duryodhana. One of our grandmothers used to regularly play male characters, she looked handsome wearing a moustache made from goatskin,” Ramesh laughs.
The Surabhi artistes are famous for their performances based on snippets from the Mahabharata and the puranas. Starting from Keechaka vadham, the birth of Krishna or Mayabazaar (a popular folktale from the Mahabharata), each play is unique in its extravagant sets, lighting and special effects.
“Everybody in a Surabhi family is taught to set the stage, handle lighting or enact a part. From the beginning, the troupe is known for its creation of huge sets. Mythological plays are like fantasies where you need to show gods travelling through clouds or for example Krishna killing a five-headed serpent. If in the early 1900s the troupe created sound effects through drums and other musical instruments and lighting through petromax lamps, now technology has revolutionised the way we present plays on stage,” Ramesh explains.
However, he also says that technology has added to the cost of preparing for a play, especially at a time when TV, internet and other forms of entertainment have taken over our lives.
“And this is precisely the reason there are only 4-5 families from the Surabhi theatre group left in Telangana now. These are the families that have stood the test of time and have even able to take the Surabhi plays as far as France,” Ramesh adds.
Even though Ramesh was an ardent fan of theatre from his childhood, it was only after his post-graduation that he started to learn and document his family’s legacy, which is 134 years old to be precise.
“My father used to stitch shiny clothes, design jewellery and props for the plays. But soon he realised there was very little money in this business, he was paid a meagre Rs 1,000 monthly by the theatre group. He moved out and started designing costumes for other theatre groups. I was strictly banned from getting into theatre when I was in school,” Ramesh says, while adding, “But I was always fascinated with the idea of theatre and especially all the preparations. I would observe everything eagerly whenever we visited a relative’s home. Maybe that’s what compelled me to take up a PhD in theatre arts and write books on the Surabhi theatre group.”
Surabhi Ramesh
Ramesh says Surabhi artistes are masters in their profession despite not being professionally trained or taking acting lessons.
“They do not have theoretical knowledge of acting. But they are the best you can find in the theatre scene in our country. But how many of us know about the Surabhi group?” Ramesh asks.
In an attempt to revive the forgotten community, Ramesh has written three books on the history of theatre and is a regular on the theatre scene in Hyderabad, creating new venues and discussions on how to take forward the legacy of the Surabhi troupe.
He says, “I am now planning to set up a small training institute where people can take lessons on doing mythological plays. I don’t think 40-50 people can take forward an art form that is hardly surviving. I want to preserve, document and bring the artistes under a single roof and pass on the art form to our future generations.”