Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar

Pammal Vijayaranga Sambandha Mudaliar
Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar
Born	(1873-02-21)February 21, 1873 Pammal, Tamil Nadu, India
Died	September 24, 1964(1964-09-24) (aged 91)
Occupation	Playwright
Education	Pachaiyappa's College
Information
Awards	Padma Bhushan (1959)

Pammal Vijayaranga Sambandha Mudaliar (1873-1964), who has been described as "the founding father of modern Tamil theatre", was a playwright, director, producer and actor of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth centuries. He was a recipient of the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan.

Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar was born in Pammal, Madras to Vijayaranga Mudaliar and Manickavelu Ammal in 1873. He was educated at Pachaiyappa's College.

Influenced by his father, who had a large library and instilled in his son a love of books, and by his mother's telling of folktales and Indian epics, Mudaliar developed an interest in drama as a child. His father also encouraged him to see theatrical productions at a time when the theatre was considered to be a disreputable environment. Influenced in particular by his childhood reading of works written by William Shakespeare, Mudaliar wrote his own plays from an early age. He staged these at his home, along with his brother and sister, for audiences comprising family and neighbours.

According to a theatre review written by Kausalya Santhanam, Mudaliar founded the theatre company known as Suguna Vilasa Sabha to "revive and reform Tamil drama." S. Muthiah considers him to have been a co-founder, along with six other people. The company was established in July 1891 when Mudaliar was a 19-year-old student. It was inspired by his witnessing of the excitement caused when Sarasa Vinodini Sabha, an amateur theatre company headed by a lawyer, Bellary Krishnamacharlu, visited Madras to perform several Telugu productions in that year.

The first of his plays to be staged by the company was the unsuccessful Pushpavalli, in 1893 at the Victoria Public Hall in Madras. The lack of success did not deter him and nor did his full-time work as a lawyer and, later, as a judge: Mudaliar maintained his involvement in drama thereafter, as a writer, director, producer and actor. His initial effort was followed by Sarangadhara and before long his productions were being watched throughout the Madras Presidency.