From the game Meaning of Malar.
Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A small, comfortable place with minimum lighting, floor-level performance area and props, which was developing informally the informally developing of Tamil Play of Kudai Kudirai, was, Meaning of MalarWritten and directed by Vedarun, staged in Idam, Kodakamkam, Chennai. There were no backgrounds or curtains, the space felt less like a platform and like the expansion of a living room, invited the audience to an intimate, almost confessional environment.
From the beginning, design and lighting options set tone for a dramatic experience that gives emotional authenticity on the spectacle and a privilege of psychological depth. And in this way the audience was attracted into the drama in Malar’s life.
The non-lectured structure of the play narrated the story of a chronological story, instead put the moments of Maller’s childhood and late Biswan Dasha together, showing how the past and present co-existence in a constant emotional dialogue. This dramatic option reflected the fragmented nature of memory and trauma, forcing the audience to actively add the story while living in the emotional stages of the characters.
The absence of visual breakdown or interval created a temporary and spatial continuity. This uninterrupted flow acts as a metaphor for unresolved feelings and silence that allows Maleer’s relationships.
‘The Earth of Malar’ from Vedarun’s Tamil game. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Malar, depicted with remarkable subtlety by Sneha Sesh, is a woman who is caught in a complex web of her relationship with two men, Kumar (Sadashivam Suryanarayana) and Benjamin (Rajbarath Balmurti). Through these relationships, the play examines the ambiguities of attachment. The interaction of two men with the malaner oscillates between tenderness and stress, dirty, often reflects the contradictory nature of human bonds.
The themes of the game are universally echoed to the discovery of emotional fragility, misunderstanding, and freedom, yet Tamil is deeply vested in cultural idioms. The symbolic use of the Malar (flower) provokes the perceptions of beauty that is associated with inequality and flexibility. With subtle humor, the drama speaks raw, balances the moments of levity with honesty.
Post show, Vedarun shared that he likes to read books on psychology. And one such rich is of Levin Joined togetherHe said, “I took inspiration from it while working on drama”. This effect was evident in the fine depiction of relationship mobility which was defined Meaning of Malar,
Published – June 04, 2025 06:13 pm IST
