Ningalenne Communistakki

Ningalenne Communistakki (Malayalam: നിങ്ങളെന്നെ കമ്മ്യൂണിസ്റ്റാക്കി, meaning: you made me a communist) is a Malayalam socio-political play by Kerala People's Arts Club (KPAC). This was the second and most popular stage play of KPAC . This drama propelled KPAC into the forefront of kerala cultural scene and played a historical role in popularising the Communist movement in Kerala during 1950's eventually leading to the establishment of first democratically elected communist ministry in the world in 1957 in Kerala under E. M. S. Namboodiripad.

The drama was inaugurated at Chavara, Kollam, on December 6, 1952. It portrayed the transition of an elderly man from a conservative upper-caste Hindu into a Communist. The play was a protest against the feudalism that prevailed in Kerala and it was the clarion call to rise and fight oppression and exploitation. On the 85th day of its performance in March 1953, the play was banned by the government under the Dramatic Performances Act, alleging that the play propagated "subversive ideas" and encouraged the people to "rebel against the government". Defying the ban, the troupe staged the play at Kovalam, near Thiruvananthapuram leading to arrest of all the artists and a case being registered against them. Following an intense legal battle, the ban was lifted after two months. Since its appearance, this play remained the most popular in Malayalam and has been performed more than ten thousand times and has highly influenced the course of Kerala's political history.

Thoppil Bhasi, then a young Communist activist who was underground for political reasons wrote the play under the pseudonym Soman. The drama was directed jointly by G. Janardhana Kurup and N Rajagopalan Nair MLA. The songs were written by ONV Kurup and G. Devarajan composed the music and sung by KS George and Sulochana. The main actors were Kampisseri Karunakaran MLA, Adv. G. Janardhana Kurup, Adv. N Rajagopalan Nair (MLA), O. Madhavan, Thoppil Krishna Pillai (Thoppil Krishna pillai, the younger brother of Thoppil Bhasi acted in different plays of KPAC for 37 years continuously), Bhaskara Panicker, V.Sambasivan, Sreenarayana Pillai, Sulochana, Sudharma, Bhargavi and Vijayakumari. Later highly talented artists like P. J. Antony, CG Gopinath and Adv. Kumarakom Sankunni Menon played leading roles in this play.

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