By IANS,
Bangalore : Babu Hirannaiah is set to publish his father veteran stage artiste Master Hirannaiah’s plays that revolutionalised Kannada theatre, in the form of an anthology. He is doing it to clear misconception about him and to keep his work alive in future.
Babu, a well-known name in television and theatre world, also plans to publish all the plays written by his grandfather, comedian Hirannaiah, who wrote the hit play “Devadasi”, staged countless number of times in the past six decades.
“Unfortunately, many people think my grandfather and my father just wrote some comedy-oriented dramas and staged them. This misconception can only be cleared by publication of all these plays,” Babu told IANS.
Babu said each book, titled “Nenapina Angaladhalli”, will have five plays written by his father and grandfather. And he wants all the books to be published simultaneously in the name of Shantha Publications.
“I don’t want the efforts of my father and grandfather to go unnoticed. My grandfather wrote social plays with lot of sarcasm at a time when mythological and historical plays were ruling the roost. He did take up many social issues and wrote message oriented plays, which penetrated deep into the people’s minds. His hard-hitting dialogues laced with sarcasm were unique. Even my father’s contribution in arousing the consciousness of the people cannot be underestimated,” Babu said.
Master Hirannaiah entertained into theatre world more than five decades ago and staged plays in and out of Karnataka. His successful plays include “Devadasi”, “Makmal Topi”, “Lanchavathaara”, “Anaachara” and “Brashtachaara”, that won the hearts of the Kannada theatre audience.
“Lanchavatara”, written by Master Hirannaiah’s father before his death in 1953, is a humorous take on corruption and has been staged more than 10,000 times.
He also wrote plays like “Brashtachaara” and “Anaachara” and won many awards including the prestigious Rajyothsava Award and Nataka Academy award from the state government.
Babu is also planning to bring out anthology of plays written by his grandfather Hirannaiah, who wrote the popular play “Devadasi”, which has been staged umpteenth times in the past six decades.
Born in Mysore in 1905, the senior Hirannaiah is known for plays like “Praneshana Pranya Leele”, “Paschathapa” and “Echchamma Nayaka”.
His “Devadasi” set a record run of being played for a continuous five months. He was also the founder member of the drama troupe called Mithra Mandali.
Meanwhile, Babu has already completed a script for a film which has been titled “Chintegalige Vidaya Heli”.
“I am following the foot steps of my grandfather and father in writing script. The story is very contemporary and I have narrated the script with a bit of sarcasm and seriousness,” says Babu, whose performances in serials like “Muththina Thorana” and “Yeke Heege Namma Naduve” have been much appreciated.
He had also worked as an assistant director to National Award winning director Ramadas Naidu on the movie “Mussanje”.