Malayalam drama ‘Soviet Station Kadavu’ is a well-crafted drama on power and its abuse

audience of a Malayalam drama, Soviet station Kadavu, He was taken from a suburb on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram to the Kremlin and Nazi Germany on the wing of the imagination. Billed as the first ‘time travel’ drama in Malayalam, it is a splendid example of how a well-crafted, creative drama can overcome the constraints of language, time and budget to capture the attention of the audience. Is.

Staged by Kanal Sankasarika Vedi and directed by Hajim Amarvila, the play is an adaptation of Murali Krishnan’s short story of the same name. During a previous interview, the director explained that the premise of the play is that the former USSR suffered a setback due to World War II. To prevent this, a 2022 assassin – a youngster from Kadavu station near Thumba in Thiruvananthapuram – goes back in time to assassinate Hitler.

Kannan Nair in a scene from a Malayalam drama Soviet station Kadavus
, photo credit: bivin lal

Soviet station Kadavus Deals with the dangers of power and how absolute power corrupts utterly. The play touches on the post-truth era and the abundance of fake news in the form of facts. With subtle humor and subtle lines, Soviet station Kadavus It tells how democratic norms can be overthrown by leaders following their neurotic approach in the name of caste, religion or ideology by playing with the insecurities of the majority.

With minimal props, Hajim’s brilliant direction helps the actors master the drama. The transition from one time zone to another and the introduction of characters such as Leonoid Brezhnev, Hitler, Eva Braun, Tesla and Joseph Goebbels doesn’t look out of place.

The play also divided audiences while dealing with contemporary political issues of democracy, fascism and authoritarianism.

Navina VM and Amal Krishna in a scene from Soviet station Kadavus
, photo credit: special arrangement

Artists of Full House Playing for Three Evenings at Ganesham, Thiruvananthapuram Soviet station Kadvau Congratulations should be given for pushing a narrative that talks about ridiculing the propagators and propagators of fake news.

Amal Krishna as Chirani Ravi and Kannan Nair as Hitler are excellent. Reju Koliakkode as the young Hitler and Santosh Venjaramude as Breshnev have also done well. Sujathan is the man behind the minimal, fluid set while technical support is provided by Sujit Rajan, an electrical engineer.

malayalam drama scene Soviet station Kadavus
, photo credit: bivin lal

Although the pandemic had pulled the curtains down on live theatre, the response to the play shows that theater has regained its glory on the stage. In fact, it was one of the first plays to be staged live (post-lockdown) at Neervil Prakash Kala Kendram, Kollam. Soviet station Kadavus Hajim has the fourth largest production. His earlier works include Vindham Bhagwante Marnam, Chimera And swarnasimhasanam,

Soviet station Kadavus It was staged with the help of a grant from the Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi.