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At least two out of hundred would remember Sambanda Mudaliar as the
father of modern Tamil drama. He belonged to the judiciary and
occupied and decent and respectable position in society. He wrote many
a drama in Tamil, produced them and acted in them too. He took the
theme of Hamlet from Shakespeare and his most famous drama Manohara
was born out of it, with Indian characters and an Indian locale. The
Suguna Vilas Sabha was founded by him and it has not yet lost it
identity, though the dramas have vanished into thin air.
It could not be otherwise. For the theatre complex - Devi, Devibala
and Devi Paradise - and another theatre Anna flank the building that
still carries the name board, Suguna Vilas Sabha. Yes. Suguna Vilas
Sabha exists even today in the very same building in Anna Salai close
to the above theatres. The Cosmopolitan Club is close by. The Sabha is
situated opposite to the Anna Salai Post Office. One cannot in any
manner, when standing at its entrance in Anna Salai, perceive its
immense space. Once you cross the entrance the breathtaking old
building and considerable open space welcomes you. I was invited by a
friend around forty years ago to the Sabha and remember that coffee
was offered to me in a silver tumbler.
The Anna Salai Post Office has moved from its original, small and
lovely building to a multistoried concrete structure, forty years ago.
This old building had housed the 'Electric Theatre' around a hundred
years back. It was a time when 'talkies' were really not talking. In
fact this is the first regular theatre of Tamil Nadu. It has changed
hands and housed the post office for a long time. It is now the
archives for special stamps and a philatelist's haunt.
We will walk down Chennai’s memory lanes again…
Ashokamitran
(Translated by Hari Krishnan)
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