AREN’T ANTS a lot like warriors? They march in columns; they show unbounded courage. No matter how large their foe, they still attack. No matter how many of them are killed, they will not surrender or retreat. An ant that is decapitated will continue to bite at its adversary. For their size, ants are the strongest creatures in the world, able to carry objects many times larger than themselves. Surabhi Sri Venkateswara Natya Mandali, comprising about 60 artistes of the same family under the guidance of R. Nageswara Rao, alias Babji, seems to be marching on the patterns of ants. The group has survived for more than a century with the fighter’s spirit.
Surabhi’s origin is traced back to the people belonging to the Maratha king’s armed forces, who migrated and settled down in Andhra Pradesh. The armourers and craftsmen of the Maratha armies settled down in various places after the empire broke up into separate pieces. The group which settled at Surabhi village in Andhra Pradesh’s Cuddapah district called themselves Aarey-Kaapu and chose entertainment as their profession. Initially, the group showcased puppet shows for village folks at fairs and festivals. The year 1880 witnessed the birth of a small theatre group under the guidance of one such migrant, Vanarasa Govinda Rao, and started staging the adaptations of Marathi folks and other mythological stories in Telugu. These migrants were not proficient in the local Telugu dialect, so the group opted for a sanskritised version of Telugu, which was also suitable for showcasing mythological plays.
Surabhi’s shows became popular for the materialistic realisation of the enigmatic effects of super human powers of the devatas, rakshasas, mantrikas meticulously on the stage. They designed and perfected the techniques so much that it got identified with the place of the origin of the theatre group Surabhi. Not only the theatre groups started subsequently under different names, one each by the 10 daughters and the three sons of Govinda Rao, but also of their descendants, enjoyed the same reputation because of the prefix Surabhi.
Today, when Andhra’s theatrescape does not have any nationally-acclaimed, contemporary director’s name attached to it, Surabhi saves some grace due to its consistency and unique folk flavour.
An artiste’s life in Surabhi is a replica of Shakespear’s All the World’s a Stage. Kids grow up playing various characters. Once, some aged actor actually died during a performance, the cast improvised the scene flawlessly, and the audience kept enjoying the show. Every member of the group is a multi-tasker.
Apart from singing, dancing and rendering versified dialogues in chosen ragas, these artists work labouriously behind the curtains, constructing pandals, stages, ornaments for productions. The make-up and costume expert women of the group cut vegetables and let it simmer till they have to step on the stage, and once their role is over, they come straight to their kitchens. The entire cast and crew eats together after the show.
Maya Bazar, Shri Krishna Lilau, Balanagamma, Chintamani and Sati Anasuya are some of the most famous plays of the groups. There is no book with the texts of these plays, it is a purely spoken tradition that one has to grow into.
The internal stories and traditions of the group is as colourful as its sets and characters. To keep the show on, the girls of the Surabhi family are not sent away after marriage, rather grooms are integrated into the community.
This is done in order to keep the members of the family together. Another reason for this trend was that it was difficult to marry off an actress and leave her in another family. So the women do not move out, the men move in and naturally perform as well. The tradition of including daughters-in-law in the family is equally enticing. The brides are asked to come with a make-up box from their homes as a symbol of dedication to the stage art.
Today, when many theatre groups struggle to survive, the Surabhi family surely embodies the warrior’s spirit, similar to ants, inspiring one not to surrender.