This week, The Madras Players, the oldest English theatre group in India, lost one its stalwarts — Vishalam Ekambaram. She was 88. One of its most popular actors for over four decades, Vishalam remained a committee member of the Players till the very end. Beyond her career in theatre, she will also be remembered fondly for her news-reading days on Doordarshan between 1976 and 1980.
Take a pair of flashing eyes that could reflect the glitter of diamonds or the cold fire of ice, a generous mouth that could beguile you with the most loving smile, or turn up in heavy scorn, a voice sopranos would kill for, a quicksilver sense of timing, a fine-tuned feel for the ‘moment’ on stage, and the versatility to swing from the ultra-western to the ethnic Indian — stir it all up, and what you get is the heady cocktail that was Vishalam Ekambaram.
Vishalam Ekambaram
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Vishalam, through her acting career of over 40 years with The Madras Players, was always the darling of the crowd. The “oldies” saw a daughter in her; her striking beauty mesmerised the younger ones on stage, while for the very young, she was ever their favourite aunt — that was the range of people Vishalam appealed to.
From romantic leads in her early days with the group, to wives and mothers in later years, Vishalam played the whole gamut of roles. Comedy, farce, drama, tragedy, poetry, and revue — she did them all. In many ways, I think Vishalam has been among the most prolific of women actors. This was also because she was a performer, first and last, and never found herself drawn to direction. She was, however, a director’s dream, capable of giving form and shape to the most intricate of visions.
A scene from The Plaza Suite
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As an actor, I did more plays with Vishalam than with any other lady artiste. To be on stage with her was a delight. She continually challenged you to match her verbal skills, her lightning-fast repartees, and instant sensitivity to the situation.
We were together in several plays — Mricchakatika, Plaza Suite, The Good Doctor, All My Sons, Dark Designs, and many smaller productions and readings. The last Mithran Devanesen’s This English, a compilation of hilarious writings on English, with Vishalam and me as perhaps the most constant factors, was milked for 30 or 40 shows all over the South, and even went to Sri Lanka.
She did many other plays as well, with Vimal Bhagat, Ronnie Patel and AV Dhanushkodi. In the 1970s and ‘80s, there weren’t too many women willing to act on the English stage. Vishalam, therefore, became most sought after. Slapstick to serious drama, she brought to bear her unique gift of spontaneity, that elusive quality so few have — that which can only be described as ‘flair’.
With Girish Karnad
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Vishalam had the ability to lift a scene from the pedestrian to the brilliant. Very few actors have such instinctive feel for pace and cueing — all you had to do was to follow her lead. For all that, she never overdid a role. A raised eyebrow, a toss of the head, or the twitch of the lips would convey more than a hundred gestures. She had no formal training in theatre, no voice or movement classes. Yet her moves on stage were intelligent and precise, her technique flawless, her voice clear as a bell.
To work with Vishalam for any actor was a pleasure. She never dominated anyone, was always sensitive to another’s space and moment, and, above all, had no airs whatsoever. Whether it was a seasoned actor, or an aspiring youngster, they were always completely comfortable with her.
A play on Bangalore Nagarathnamma
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The only little problem with Vishalam was that when she was finished with a play, she threw the script away. So, if we had to repeat anything, a fresh script had to be made for her. No matter how many times you redid a script for her, she always somehow contrived to lose it.
Vishalam was always fun to be with, uncomplicated, generous, and full of laughter.
The writer was Vishalam Ekambaram’s co-actor for several decades. This is an edited excerpt from his book, Bring Down the House Lights (2006).