‘What is romance without parental disapproval?’: Karpanai Kuthirai’s train comedy rolls in
All the action in Karpanai Kuthirai’s Chikku Bukku Kalyanam, written and directed by Vedarun Rajkumar, takes place on a train. The play was staged as part of Krishna Gana Sabha’s summer drama festival.
The story revolves around a hopelessly romantic girl — Ananya, portrayed by Subhiksha Sridharan — who wants an unusual wedding venue and is travelling to marry her boyfriend in a railway station. She is also happy about her father’s opposition to her choice as she believes “what is a romance without parental disapproval?” Ananya’s father engages Mathew to spy on his daughter. Mathew, who is busy, asks his friend Balaji, a reformed pick-pocketer, to take his place on the train.
Two siblings — Kuntalakesi, played by Preeti Krishnan, and Manimekalai, played by Rini Chitra Kannan — are also travelling in the same compartment as Ananya, albeit without tickets. Kuntalakesi is averse to what she sees as the superficial romance of the modern world. Balaji, impersonating Mathew, is smitten by Manimekalai’s charms. A comedy of errors unfolds inside the compartment. The journey is a riot of mistaken identities.
