At 72, Ramakrishna Kannarpady is not ready to retire and plans to make a comeback on stage with a solo performance. Fondly called Ramanna or Kannarpady sir in theatre circles, the celebrated make-up artist, backstage expert, actor, and author spoke to The Hindu about his 50-year-long theatre journey, as he worked in the green room during a show at Ranga Shankara. He shared vignettes from his journey from working at a factory to taking up theatre as a full-time profession, his accidental entry into the world of theatre makeup and writing his own book on makeup.
You have been doing theatre for more than 50 years now, how has your journey been? What is it that keeps you going?
The fact that theatre has been giving me opportunities for more than 50 years is more important than me sticking around for 50 years. The joy theatre gives me is something I have not found elsewhere; it lets me show the world the creative side that no other field of work would have let me explore. Back in my hometown, Kannarpady in Udupi district, I was part of many plays and skits, it made me quite popular and my interest in theatre started from there, but I moved to Bengaluru in 1970. I worked at a factory and met someone there whose brothers had a theatre troupe. That’s where my journey started.
Back then women were not in theatre. I had a good complexion, was fit, and was asked to do the role of a female character. From then on, I did not look back. Over the last 50 years, I probably could not involve myself in theatre for not more than 10 months due to personal reasons, but the last 50 years have been tremendous. I am 72 now, for me age is just a physical factor. I feel much younger. People keep reminding me that I am old and ask me to retire, but I am not ready for it yet.
How did your journey in the makeup world begin? Makeup Nani, a pioneer in the field, was your guru. How was your experience learning and working with him?
I had never imagined I would become a professional makeup artist. I only wanted to be an actor and a backstage worker. Makeup was something that happened accidentally and suddenly. I had enrolled myself for the first batch of Bengaluru University’s diploma course in theatre in the year 1973 and was not great at doing makeup, but that is where Makeup Nani noticed me. He asked me to tag along with him during shows now and then. I would help him set up his makeup station, and eventually, he started teaching me the basics. One day he took me to a weeklong college competition, and I assisted him, the next day he did not show up.
I did not know what to do or how to reach out to him, as we did not have mobile phones back then. A few hours later he called the college landline and asked the staff to let me know that he would not be able to make it, and I had to do the makeup myself. I was scared, but equally brave, as Makeup Nani would not be around to notice the mistakes I made. Since then, I started getting more opportunities, and I have gone on.
You have written a book on makeup called Prasadana - Neevu Kaliyiri. What motivated you to write this book, what is it about?
Makeup Nani had written a book on makeup from which all of us learned a lot, but I wanted to write a simple and elaborate book on everything from basics to the important steps, material, tools, equipment, and everything else involved in makeup. I wanted to write a book that can be easily read by anyone, especially theatre practitioners. I wanted the book to help any theatre practitioner and actor to be able to do makeup him/herself. I kept telling my friends and fellow theatre practitioners B.V. Rajaram and Vijaykumar Benacha about the idea of a book, and they encouraged me to do this. My memory is not that great, so it took me two years to compile my experiences and write this book.
What is the future of makeup as a profession in Kannada theatre?
The future of makeup in Kannada theatre is in great hands, we have makeup artists who are extremely talented. Vijaykumar Benacha who started doing makeup under me now does it independently, there are lots of youngsters who are now learning makeup from him and are doing great. The other advantage is that learning makeup is quite easy these days. Earlier we had to do in-depth research of characters before starting makeup on an actor, but now everything is just a tap away on the internet. Be it makeup for a mythological play, or a social play, everything can be looked up on the internet in seconds. The style of makeup changes eventually over a period, and it will change in the future too. There are many young artists who are keen on learning makeup in almost every Kannada theatre troupe.
You are an actor and a mime specialist, trained under the guidance of V. Ramamurthy. But now we don’t get to see you on stage as much. How was your acting journey, is there a particular play or role which you are fond of even now? Do you plan to get back on stage sometime?
Back in my hometown, I was a popular actor and got very strong characters to play. I have played major characters in many plays both in my hometown and in Bengaluru. But it is not the long stage time or the monologues that come to my mind now, but that of a small character with just one dialogue in Ashok Badardinni’s Kannada version of Hamlet, in which I played the character of a player/actor.
I was very happy with that character, from my entry to my exit, that character mesmerized the audience every single time we performed, and it is something I would love to perform again. My journey as an actor has been satisfying so far, but I want to do a one-and-a half-hour-long solo play. Many might say I am old and won’t be able to do it, but my madness for theatre does not end here. If time and health permits, I will soon get back on stage with this play.
Everyone in the theatre world knows that you are someone who likes working backstage. Years ago, during the month-long Bombay tour of Benaka started by the legendary theatre person B.V. Karanth, you had a backstage team called Agochara. What was it like working in the group and why is backstage work important for theatre?
We travelled for the Bombay tour for almost a month, and a group of us were responsible for the backstage work. It included artists like Ananthram, Gopi, Chandru, Raghavendra, Raganni and I. We worked behind the curtains, never in the limelight, and mostly invisible to many. Agochara translates to invisible, and our initials put together also came along as Agochara, so we named our group the same. B.V. Karanth would ask T.S. Nagabharana to have a look backstage wherever we travelled, he would okay the stage, after which we began our work. The best part about Benaka was that nobody would step out or have a meal until we Agochararu completed our backstage work. Slowly, people started showing interest in backstage work and everyone got involved. Backstage work brought in a lot of unity within the team. We are now family. Backstage work is the backbone of theatre.
You have seen Kannada theatre grow with you. What is the status of the art form according to you, what do you want for the future of Kannada theatre?
A lot of theatre practitioners my age might say that Kannada theatre has changed, and it was different in our times. I agree that things have changed, but our lifestyle was different back then, our working hours back then were flexible and all of us had more time and energy to create quality theatre. There was healthy competition too due to our lifestyle. If some troupe performed all of us would cancel our rehearsals and go watch their show. But artists’ lifestyles, especially that of amateur artists’, are different now.
But despite having a busy work schedule, youngsters find time to rehearse and perform regularly. People also say that there are not many good plays being made now. I however do not agree with this statement, there are writers and theatre makers like B. Suresha, S Surendranath and others who write and produce wonderful plays that are creating a trademark. Kannada theatre troupes have multiple workshops being conducted quite often. In Bengaluru itself we have so many performance spaces that are packed with audience almost every day. Kannada theatre has always been active, produced quality plays and is in good hands. I believe the future of Kannada theatre is bright.
