Y.Sunita Chowdhary
We have seen many new actors make their debut in Middle Class Melodies, some had dialogues, some were just visible but all of them got their due space. The senior actors, we have seen them in television and theatre but this was the film that gave them the recognition they were craving for. It isn’t as if films are everything for these people, they would be happy if they got the applause, but their heart lies in staging dramas. When one stages a drama and is well done, it has an incredible power of transformation. They are the stories that force you out of the comfort zone, push you to think and face the world in different perspective. Prabhavati has been a part of such dramas since childhood and she is one such artiste who doesn’t write off films and says even that is tough to do. In a brief conversation with Klapboardpost.com, while travelling and in between breaking signals, she says ever since the film began streaming, she has been getting calls but not the big ones as anticipated by her well-wishers and friends.
About her long standing career in Surabhi, the theatre group, she says, “I have been from the past 20 years having been doing dramas in Andhra, in places like Repalle, Chilakalurpeta, Vijayawada and Vizag. I am from a place near Jangaon in Warangal. I have been living in Hyderabad for a long time now. We never stayed at one place, we were roaming and finally settled in Hyderabad. Acting and entertaining people is our primary occupation, that is what I know. I have been watching my family perform since I was a child. I picked it up and got into the group in an organic manner, and worked for other teams mostly. Surabhi is like a university for us, I have been blessed to interact with many educated and well learned people from all walks of life. Rasaranjani was one such group which groomed me and I had picked up many life lessons from there. Chesina prayanam antha goppa vaalathone. They would advise us as and when we discussed our problems. After Rasaranjanai, I worked for a longer period with Sai Arts, Kolakalur which is run by Goparaju Ramana (he played Anand Devarakonda’s father in the film).
Prabhavati further talks about the break taken by the people due to the spread of Corona. “Recently we did a drama in Kolakalur, the people came late but showed the same encouragement and warmth like they did before lockdown. They wore masks and got sanitisers with them and watched the drama. The crowd might have reduced at Ravindtra Bharati, but there is absolutely no change in the numbers here. People will 100 percent forget the worries for some time when they see us or our drama. To watch a drama, the people need to pool in at least 15 thousand rupees, all this comes from the savings of the villagers. Either they are giving life to a dying art form or they want entertainment but the bottom-line is they are encouraging us.
We go for competitions too. For every play, there is a director. There is freshness every time we come on stage, our thoughts will differ, performances will upgrade. We might put an end to academics at some point but drama is a never ending process. To watch a drama of 90 minutes duration, we do a preparation of atleast ten days minimum. We hound the writer for dialogues. He takes a lot of time to give our dialogues. We have to ask them umpteen times for our dialogue and then the director fine tunes it. After that we work on it. Till ten dramas are staged and rehearsals are done, every day appears like a ‘gandam’. We repeat it for perfection. I have been with Surabhi as long as I know, my hubby is an electrician, my son holds a degree and daughter married. “
She signs off, “Manchi natakam cheste, we feel very happy and satisfied. We never regret or feel sad that we are not educated or don’t have money. We feel we are on the top of the world, that we are kings when we deliver a good performance. There is nothing more rewarding than a good performance. Acting in cinema isn’t easy either. There will be continuation issues, dates etc and we have to maintain the same emotion till dubbing. For MCM, the director would tell me my part ten times so that it gets imprinted on my mind. Her character is such that, moguduki support icchnatte untundi, kodukuni asraddha cheyyadhu, husband ni kasurukodhu.”
