Theatre of the absurd – Economic Times
Posted: January 9, 2021 at 3:53 am
The grossly apocryphal reportage on the death of actor Anil P Nedumangad once again revealed the deep chasm that exists between cinema and other art forms and the undue hegemony it maintains over them. A few roles that Anil portrayed impressively in films were enough to bracket him as a promising actor, which in cinema lingo is an artful term for an upstart talent. What followed his untimely death in the glimmering green waters of Malankara Dam on Christmas Day was a deluge of reportage that not just lifted him out of the wavy, vile waters of the mundane world, but placed him up above the cycloramic sky, among the diminutive stars who suddenly lost their shimmering lights.
In fact, no one can be blamed for such excesses given that news media and cinema knew little about the trained actor, his potentials, and the person whom his friends and colleagues recall as a naive and hyperactive man with a notoriously acerbic tongue and a moonlit heart.
Anil is incomplete without his greed for acting, love for friends, and devotion to the works of Albert Camus, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Dostoyevsky. Far from being a novice, he was a veteran actor who made an indelible imprint in modern theatre. I had an opportunity to co-organize and watch his stunning performance in a play adaptation of Willian Goldings Lord of the Flies, if not mistaken, in 1996. Anil was second to none as a source of intense energy on the stage.
He played major roles in almost all plays directed by his bosom friend, guide, and classmate Jyothish M G besides appearing in dramas directed by Surjith and Deepan Sivaraman. He also acted with seasoned theatre actors like D Raghoothaman, Jose P Raphael, Gopalan, Rajan, and James Elia ..(the list is incomplete) Of course, cinema enthused Anil. He was not among those artists who declared stage as the only world from where they get the right kick. He joined the School of Drama and Fine Arts in Thrissur to chisel his acting talents and ready himself for the world of motion pictures.
But it was not fame and money that he was looking for. He got his kicks out of acting. His huge success as a trained theatre actor for over the past 25 years had made him an acting addict. The actor in him tormented him when he was out of action. The love and concern for those close to him is evident in a recent message he sent to a former school of drama student: In the time of corona you cant make plays, I know. You write a poem, instead. Im itching to pay you.
On another occasion, he sent a voice clip to Jyothish, the head of the acting department at K R Narayanan Film Institute: If I do something great in cinema, it could happen only in your film. My liver wont start giving trouble till then, Im sure.
But, mediums other than theatre got to see very little of his talent. There is no point in blaming those who know him only for his role in Ayyappanum Koshiyum when the refreshing talent vanished abruptly from the screen. However, it points at the intimidating level of authority that cinema as a medium has managed to establish over other art forms. For all his new admirers, he was the one whom they saw on screen. Nothing more, nothing less.
Media works in currency. What is most important for the news media is the immediate present. They connect only with it. The coverage is bound to be incomplete and is directly proportional to the fame, not merit. Look at the difference between the news coverages on the deaths of lyricist Anil Panachooran and poet Neelamperoor Madhusoodanan Nair. Celebration of the present and adoration of the larger-than-life-size image projected on screen outshine everything else, says film critic C S Venkiteswaran.
The challenge faced by obit writers in newsrooms is such that it wholly hinges on the immediately available information. A couple of unsolicited quotes from film stars and political leaders make the newsroom exercise relieving, if not gratifying. But to assess an actor only on the basis of his association with the silver screen is nauseating, if not loathsome. Given a chance, Anil would have repeated what Mark Twain had said about the reports on his death: The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated, adding in a derisive tone, I dont see myself in those reports.
Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Views expressed above are the author's own.
Link:
Theatre of the absurd - Economic Times
- Nietzsche and COVID-19: We're all struggling in our own way - Johns Hopkins News-Letter - February 17th, 2021
- Devendra Banharts First Solo Exhibition in Los Angeles Opens - GalleristNY - February 17th, 2021
- How spending time in the mountains is good for the body and mind - Monaco Tribune - February 17th, 2021
- Brandel Chamblee Q&A: Commish for the day, does he really believe everything he says & Cancel Culture - usatoday.com - February 17th, 2021
- Trending News: Covid-19 impact on Cold Chain Tracking and Monitoring Market Segmented By Application and Analysis till 2027 |Sensitech, Inc., ORBCOMM,... - February 17th, 2021
- Arknights Lore: The Birth of Tragedy and Requiem - GamePress - January 9th, 2021
- Want to improve focus and productivity? Do one thing at a time - The Guardian - January 9th, 2021
- Darwinism as the Root Problem of Modernity - Discovery Institute - January 9th, 2021
- Past in Perspective - The Nation - January 9th, 2021
- Shaw, Scientism, and Darwinism - Discovery Institute - January 9th, 2021
- Asking Ourselves What is truth in a Post-COVID World? - The Nanjinger - December 21st, 2020
- In defence of egoism - TheArticle - December 21st, 2020
- The Telos Press Podcast: Robert Miner on the Division of Work and Play in Adorno's Minima Moralia - Telos Press - December 21st, 2020
- Assassin's Creed: after 13 years, 12 games and a ton of sales, what's the secret to the franchise's success? - The Conversation AU - December 21st, 2020
- Covid and the Winter of Our Discontent - AlleyWatch - December 21st, 2020
- The songs of David Bowie album Hunky Dory ranked in order of greatness - Far Out Magazine - December 21st, 2020
- Totally Not Fake News: The Latest Texans Fan - Battle Red Blog - December 3rd, 2020
- The Prom review is Ryan Murphy's musical the first film of the Biden era? - The Guardian - December 3rd, 2020
- Friedrich Nietzsche Birth Anniversary: Top 10 relatable love quotes by the philosopher - Newsd.in - October 16th, 2020
- Gazing into the abyss | Opinion | dchieftain.com - El Defensor Chieftain - October 16th, 2020
- Schadenfreude over Trumps COVID-19 diagnosis was more about cosmic justice than joy in anothers pain - Jacksonville Journal-Courier - October 16th, 2020
- 5-at-10 on fall break, Day 4: Fab 4 picks, Never picking against Saban, Braves are fine - Chattanooga Times Free Press - October 16th, 2020
- On Face Masks, God, Baseball, Kidneys and Cancer InsideSources - InsideSources - October 16th, 2020
- Artica makes its 'Eternal Return' October 10 and 11: 'Annual celebration of creativity, innovation, and exploration' on North Riverfront - St. Louis... - October 16th, 2020
- Behavioral Psychology and its Practical Implications - The Great Courses Daily News - October 16th, 2020
- Liberalism will remain vulnerable unless it can speak to our need for emotional storytelling - New Statesman - October 16th, 2020
- Lockdown read: The Unbearable Lightness of Being - The Mancunion - October 16th, 2020
- The Wild and the Disaffected: A Conversation with Reinaldo Iturriza (Part I) - Venezuelanalysis.com - October 16th, 2020
- Say yes to the world: On Nietzsche and affirmation - Big Think - September 12th, 2020
- Nietzsche and his wizards - The Rocky Mountain Goat - September 12th, 2020
- An augmented reality art exhibition will debut on the University of Chicago campus - Time Out Chicago - September 12th, 2020
- Ressentiment: He Hates, Therefore He Is | Chronicles - A Magazine of American Culture - September 12th, 2020
- Dangerous Intimacies: Racism, Risk, and Recovery - Psychotherapy.net - September 12th, 2020
- In Gratitude for the Executive Order on Critical Race Theory - Merion West - September 12th, 2020
- Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music by Alex Ross review - The Guardian - September 12th, 2020
- Is 'cultural Marxism' really taking over universities? I crunched some numbers to find out - The Conversation AU - September 12th, 2020
- Lol nothing matters. Or does it? - The Week - September 12th, 2020
- Nietzsche's superman, Islam, and Covid-19 ( Part III) - Daily Times - August 22nd, 2020
- Nietzsche's superman, Islam, and Covid-19 ( Part I) - Daily Times - August 22nd, 2020
- Nietzsche's superman, Islam, and Covid-19 ( Part II) - Daily Times - August 22nd, 2020
- Leprosy of the soul? A brief history of boredom - The Conversation UK - August 22nd, 2020
- Free Will Astrology: August 19, 2020 - River Cities Reader - August 22nd, 2020
- Free Will AstrologyWeek of August 20 | Advice & Fun | Bend - The Source Weekly - August 22nd, 2020
- Don't misrepresent Atheism - The Shillong Times - August 22nd, 2020
- National Couple's Day 2020: Quotes About Love To Share With Your Partner - International Business Times - August 22nd, 2020
- Cold Chain Tracking And Monitoring Market 2020 | Coronavirus Impact Analysis | Trends, Innovation, Growth Opportunities, Demand, Application, Top... - August 22nd, 2020
- David Gilbert on John Hughes and Being Seventeen - The New Yorker - August 22nd, 2020
- On Faith: Individualism is America's religion | Perspective - Rutland Herald - August 22nd, 2020
- We are back in the culture wars, reversed - Las Cruces Sun-News - August 16th, 2020
- The Base: Exporting Accelerationist Terror - Southern Poverty Law Center - August 16th, 2020
- The Spiritual Work of a Worldly Life - Tricycle - August 16th, 2020
- Cold Chain Monitoring Market Research Report 2020 Covering Industry Size, Key Players Profiles, Trends and Forecast 2026 | Sensitech, Inc., NXP... - August 16th, 2020
- DODD COLUMN: Bubble gum came with laughs | Opinion - Evening News and Tribune - June 21st, 2020
- The Triumph of the Social Scientific Method | Carl R. Trueman - First Things - June 21st, 2020
- World Sauntering Day 2020: These 10 Quotes Will Remind You to Slow Down And Enjoy Life - India.com - June 21st, 2020
- Listen to them & understand them' - Ahmedabad Mirror - June 21st, 2020
- The new normal in education - The Jakarta Post - Jakarta Post - June 21st, 2020
- Telling the truth in a post-truth world - The Brussels Times - June 21st, 2020
- When Tribal Journalists Try to 'Cancel' Ayn Rand (Part 2) - New Ideal - June 21st, 2020
- Nihilism - Wikipedia - May 22nd, 2020
- Nietzsches Eternal Return | The New Yorker - May 22nd, 2020
- Best Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes | List of Famous Friedrich ... - May 22nd, 2020
- Graduation in the Times of COVID-19 | Schools Paid - Fallon County Extra - May 22nd, 2020
- Cold Chain Tracking and Monitoring Market Top Manufacturers, Consumption, Sales, Revenue & Trend For Next 5 Years - Cole of Duty - May 22nd, 2020
- These commencement speakers have wise words for these times - erienewsnow.com - May 22nd, 2020
- Gaze in Wonder at This Porsche 917/30 Flat-12 Fresh out of Canepas Shop - Autoweek - May 22nd, 2020
- Coronavirus: The Collapse of Higher Education -Or its Revolution? - Modern Diplomacy - May 22nd, 2020
- 'Outer Banks' co-creators talk Netflix, the UNC-Duke rivalry and the ferry to Chapel Hill - The Daily Tar Heel - May 22nd, 2020
- COVID-19 is a cruel reminder of the human condition - MinnPost - May 13th, 2020
- Your firm and the pandemic: Better after broken - Accounting Today - May 13th, 2020
- The Streets Ponders a Universal Question With New COVID-19 Track - Rolling Stone - May 10th, 2020
- Colby Cosh: Doing 'Houelle' in isolation France's sage transmits to the world - National Post - May 10th, 2020
- The one who integrates is lost - Daily Times - May 10th, 2020
- Global Temperature Data Logger Market Key Players, Application and Business Analysis over Distributed Regions Global Forecast to 2025. - Cole of Duty - May 10th, 2020
- Matters of laugh and death: Imagining 'The Good Place' [column] - LancasterOnline - May 4th, 2020
- Why Indians Need To Be More Rational Than Emotional When It Comes To Politics - Youth Ki Awaaz - May 4th, 2020
- Impact of Covid-19 on Cold Chain Tracking and Monitoring Systems Market Research Report 2020, Thrives the Global Industry Growth at Impressive CAGR... - May 4th, 2020
- Inside the Core this Week - Seton Hall University News & Events - April 30th, 2020
- The Mother Lode: Coronavirus carries unknowns, so does its recovery - CT Insider - April 30th, 2020
- The art of walking | Opinion - Murray Ledger and Times - April 3rd, 2020