Suraj Tiku -
Theatre was his passion
By Dr. R.K.
Tamiri
SURAJ TIKU
carved out a niche
for himself in the field of painting
and set-designing. The truth,
however, remains that acting
was his real passion. It was again
the efforts of Pt. Kashi Nath
Bhan that drew Suraj to theatre.
Bhan was the role model so far
as theatre in Kashmir was concerned.
Those were the days
when theatre in Kashmir was still
in its infancy, with little
professionalism
involved in it. Many
artists preferred it as a pastime,
rather than making it a full time
pursuit.
Tiku had no formal training in
theatre. He acquired acting skills
through the process of selflearning.
In fact, till 1964 no artist
in Kashmir had any formal
training. Pt. Ved Lal Dhar (Vakil),
the grand old man of Kashmir
theatre, had a brief stint at
Alfred
Co.
in Calcutta. Sh.Sham Lal
Dhar Bahar was the first local artist
to acquire a
Diploma in Dramatics
at National School of
Drama under Ebrahim Alkazi.
Suraj Tiku had the privilege
to have acted in almost all the
plays staged by Sudhar Samiti
and Kala Kendra under the direction
of Messers Kashi Nath
Bhan, Madhav Lal Tiku and
Trilok Dass.
Samaj Sudhar Phase:
Though modern Kashmiri
theatre had its modest beginnings
in 1920s, yet it emerged as
a distinct entity only in 1940s.
Two types of theatrical activity
were witnessed in Kashmir
simultaneously
from 1944 onwards.
One was community (Pandit) focused,
carried on under the aegis
of Samaj Sudhar Samiti. This
social outfit used to host plays
initially at Shital Nath but had to
shift later to Shivalaya, Chotta
Bazar.
Many of the leading lights of Samaj Sudhar Samiti had remained
in the forefront of
Kashmiri Pandit community's
Roti agitation in 1932.
They had
also been among the pioneers in
Kashmir's Theatre movement
from 1928 onwards. Sudhar
Samiti plays had a strong social
message. These castigated
dowry as a social evil, attacked
extravagant feasts and expenditure
on marriages and other occasions.
At times plays had also
historical and religious mythology
themes.
Pt. Nand Lal Kaul alias
Nanna
was a modern poet and perhaps
the first playwright among
Kashmiris in 20th century. He
wrote
Satach Kahawat
(The
Touchstone of Truth),
Davya-Lol
(Love of God), Ramun Raj (Ram
Rajya), Prahlad Bhagat (Bhakt
Prahlad)
etc. Many of his works were Kashmiri renderings from Urdu but these were done
excellently.
Sudhar Samiti staged these
plays of 'Nanna', besides
Akanandun, Vishwamitr,
Satraat, Raja Harish
Chander,
Shiv-Parvati, Satyavan
Savitri.
Suraj Tiku's real talent flowed in
these plays in which he acted.
Kala Kendra Years:
By 1950-51 Sudhar Samiti's
theatre activity, conducted under
its
'Natak Vibag',
had
started losing steam. Many of its
unemployed artists had found
full-time job in
Central ordinance
department
and had little
time to carry on theatre work on
a regular basis. Also, a new
generation
of theatre artists had arrived
on the scene. They had
higher aspirations and were
impatient.
Sudhar Samiti found itself
handicapped to respond to
their urges. A new cultural outfit
'Kala Kendra'
was launched by
the newer artists. In a certain
sense Sudhar Samiti's
'Natak
Vibag'
took rebirth as
'Kala
Kendra'.
History has its own
dynamic. Some of the artists of
Sudhar Samiti decided to work
with Kala Kendra while others
faded out.
Cultural Front:
The other type of Theatre activity
that gained impetus after
1947 was the one inspired by
leftoriented
Indian Peoples' Theatre
Association (IPTA).
Balraj
Sahni, the great actor, who was
a leading light of this movement
wanted a Kashmir Chapter of
IPTA. This emerged in the form
of
Cultural Front
(later
Cultural
Congress).
Plays, written by the
Cultural Front artists were staged
regularly for quite sometime. The
plays focused on the life of people
in general and addressed
broader issues. Plays staged by
Cultural Congress included
'Land to the Tiller', 'Shihil
Kul', 'Bombur Ta
Yemberzal',
'Himal Nagiraay', 'Neki
Badi'.
Kashmir’s poet-laureate Pandit
Dina Nath Nadim was moving
spirit behind these plays. Some
of the Kala Kendra actors took
part in Cultural Congress activities
as well. A patriotic play
‘Kashmir Hamara Hai’
was
staged under the able Direction
of Sh. Kashi Nath Bhan. Suraj
Tiku played a lead role in it.
Suraj Tiku was not among
founders of Kala Kendra since
he was actively involved with
Samaj Sudhar Samiti’s Theatre
Work. He joined the new outfit
only after Director Trilok Dass
returned from Madras and enrolled
himself in Kala Kendra.
Suraj was still with
Sudhar
Samiti's Natak Vibag
when
Prithviraj Kapoor, the great stage
actor, came to Kashmir to lay the
foundation stone of Samiti's
Theatre Hall on 9th of October
1952. Kapoor had enacted Soliloquy--
‘Merchant of Venice
on
the visit’.
Samiti hosted a play
for the visiting dignitary. Prithvi
Raj Kapoor was all praise for
Suraj Tiku, Kashi Nath Bhan and
Trilok Das.Artist BK Qasba who
was present on the occasion
says that Kapoor called Suraj a
great artist.
Suraj Tiku’s great acting
performances
came in such plays-
Raksha Bandhan, Sativan
Savitri
(1951),
Krishn Janam
(1952),
Aurat
(1953),
Prahlad
Bhagat
(1957)
Akh Nar Akh
Kotamb
and
Tarqi Ki Rah par
(1962),
Bina Dewaroan Ke Ghar
(1967),
Graduate Pagal
(1972).
Taent Kor, Uljan, Satraat,
Widhwa, Lol Fun Funkar,
Widhwa.
After 1968 Suraj concentrated
mainly on set-designing.
Tiku worked with such veteran
artists -Messers Ved Lal
Vakil, Mahender Wali, Madhav
Lal Tiku, Omkar Nath Khazanchi,
Laxmi Narain Kaul, Hriday Nath
Gurtoo, Omkar Nath Gursu alias
('Ibn Adam’), Makhan Lal Saraf
(who later floated his own theatre
group (‘Rang Manch'),
Krishen Langoo, Pyare Lal
Razdan, Moti Lal Kemu,
Somnath Sumbly, Girdhari Lal
Dass and many others.
Role Models:
Suraj had three idols in his life
Pt. Kashi Nath Bhan (Direction
and Stage Craft), Pt. Trilok Kaul
(Painting) and Prithvi Raj Kapoor
(Acting), Suraj Tiku was inspired
by Prithvi Raj Kapoor. He would
recreate him as a Kashmiri Pandit
character in Kashmiri Pandit
roles.
If Suraj had to choose any one
after Prithvi Raj Kapoor it was
Shashi Kapoor. Suraj’s friend
and the versatlie actor, ON
Khazanchi says, “In later days
when my son took him to watch
‘Suhag’
Suraj appreciated
Amitabh Bachan as well but
Prithvi Raj Kapoor remained the
main influence. Suraj’s delivery
of dialogues was superb. In dialogue
delivery he was much like
Prithvi Raj Kapoor and remembered
all his dialogues.”
Critics rate Suraj Tiku as one
of the five best actors of modern
Kashmiri theatre, alongside Ved
Lal Vakil, Madhav Tiku, Som
Nath Sumbly and Omkar Nath
Khazanchi. In many plays Suraj
and his illustrious uncle,
Madhav Lal Tiku acted together.
Suraj had great versatility and
could play any role. Yet experts
rate Khazanchi higher than Suraj
in versatility. Suraj Tiku always
cherished doing a role and would
feel upset if denied a role in a
play. Invariably Suraj would get
best roles in best plays.
Suraj Tiku
acted in the
roles of
Khandani Batta
(A Pandit with
distinguished
lineage), money lender,
Kashmiri Pandit
official etc. He
loved to do the
role of villain as
well. Suraj performed
this with great finesse in
plays like Manziraat, Kashmir
Hamara Hai (Directed by Sh.
Kashi Nath Bhan), Satraat etc. As
a comedian Suraj was peerless.
In many plays staged by Sudhar
Samiti and Kala Kendra comedy
used to be the premier item. Suraj
performed comedian roles in
these plays, which added to their
popularity.
Best Role:
Opinions are, however, divided
on Suraj’s all-time best role
in acting. Bal Krishan Qasba, an
artist colleague of Suraj, rates
Suraj’s role as comedian in
‘Satyavan
Savitri’ as the most
outstanding one. Music maestro,
Krishan Langoo regards
Suraj’s role as daughter-in-law’s
father in
Satraat
as the best. He
recalls,” In those days Tiku was
quite handsome and had curly
hair, before turning bald in later
years. As a 10 year old boy I had
gone to see the play ‘Satraat’
at
Shitalnath with my neighbour, Pt.
Mahendra Wali, who was himself
an actor. The play castigated
dowry as a social evil. As daughter-
in-law’s father Suraj had
dressed himself in
Achkan
and
Tangmoori Pyjama.
Suraj’s superb
acting created a lasting impression
on me. I developed
fancy, initially for him and
subsequently
for theatre”.
Sh. MK Tiku, a leading Saffron
trader and connoisseur of
theatre admires Suraj’s role as
‘beggar’ in the play ‘Uljan’.
This
play was staged first at Shivalaya
and later at SP College. When
MK Tiku asked Suraj the secret
of this great performance Suraj
disclosed that for attaining
perfection
in this role he used to visit
Charas
(Shoda)
Gali
(near Hari
Singh High Street) for hours together
to study how begging
was done.
Moti Lal Kemmu, a legendary
figure in Kashmir’s folk theatre,
‘Band Pather’
describes Suraj’s
role as
Sarvajana Mitr
in his play
‘Tsaya’
as his best ever performance.
Kemu says,”
"Suraj himself
admitted that he enjoyed to
play this role as it befitted
his
character. This role had to be
created because there was no
ideal he could imitate”.
Sarvajana Mitr, who represents
the people, is a historical figurean
outstanding scholar brought
to Kashmir from Taxila University
by King Lalitaditya. Kemu
even goes to the extent of
pronouncing
that Late Trilok Dass
owed his success primarily to the
good team (which included Suraj
Tiku) he had, ‘who would assemble
at Chottabazar and invariably
spend their evenings together’.
Since Suraj had great versatility
in his acting he was an asset
to the organisation he was
associated with. Once
‘Song and
Drama Division’
had staged a
play ‘Desh
Hamara Hai’ at
Mattan, under the direction of
Gulshan Rai Kapoor, a talented
actor with excellent voice. ON
Raina, who had to do the role of
a ‘Maharashtrian’ had not turned
up. Kapoor was in a fix as Raina’s
item was third on the agenda. A
man of crisis that Suraj was and
also who loved to take up the
challenges he volunteered to do
Raina’s item. Suraj did his makeup
himself. It was a little difficult
as he had to look like a
Maharashtrian. Suraj sang and
danced with gay abandon. No
body could make out that Suraj
was not a Maharashtrian.
Gulshan Rai was so amused that
tears started rolling down his
eyes as he burst into laughter.
ON Khazanchi the great actor,
describes Suraj Tiku as an
artist and actor of great calibre.
He says, “I have never seen such
outstanding talent. He would
assist us in script/dialogue writing.
Suraj was adept in tricks of
stage and theatre. At times if an
actor faltered in dialogue delivery
Suraj knew enough tricks to
cover this up,
without the audience
getting
even remotely
conscious about
it.”
Kemmu is equally effusive in
his praise of Suraj Tiku. He
observes:
“Suraj Tiku was a talented artist.
He had great sense of subtle
high quality humour. He would
set audience thinking in
understanding
the satirical element in
it. Suraj learnt acting from Parsi
theatre, which he used to attend.
He would do good acting, ranking
almost equal to Madhav Lal
Tiku. He was among the top five
actors of his time. Suraj was
equally proficient in Kashmiri as
well as Urdu. He had good voice
and flexibility in his body. Suraj
would understand the assigned
role well and then try to create
and perform it equally well. His
delivery of dialogues particularly
in ‘Taentkor’
and ‘Tsaya’
was
very good. He had a radio voice"
Tiku acted in radio dramas and a
number of TV plays, including
‘Simon’s Papa’.
He acted in two
films—'Manziraat’
(produced
by
Prabhat
films) and ‘Shair-e-
Kashmir
Mehjoor
(in both
Kashmiri and Hindu versions). In
Delhi Tiku alongwith Krishan
Langoo, Ali Mohammed Rah and
Ali Mohammed Nishtar had a
brief role in
‘Dr. Radio’, produced by Vilayat
Jafri. Suraj
Tiku toured different parts of the
state and the country with roving
theatre of ‘Song and Drama
Division’ and gave performances.
Make-Up:
Suraj’s brilliance would come
to fore in the art of make-up as
well. He would perform this job
for his theatre and police meet
plays. Later, he trained Sh.
Hriday Nath Gurtoo for this, who
equally excelled in this job.
Great learner:
Suraj Tiku had great
zeal
to
learn and improvise. He kept
himself abreast with the latest
trends in set-designing and
painting. He never missed an issue
of
‘Screen’,
a film journal, to
keep himself posted with what
was going in the film world.
At Kala Kendra he would
have hair-splitting discussions
with his artist colleagues. Sh.
Chaman Lal Chrungoo, a veteran
of Kala Kendra recalls on a nostalgic
note,
“Suraj was very intelligent
and had great insights
into the scope of a play.
Since I
was secretary of the organisation
he would sit for hours together
with me, discussing different
aspects—social, psychological
etc., of a play.”
Santosh Tiku, Suraj’s son
recalls the atmosphere at home,
saying, “At home father used to
discuss theatre personalities
like Ebrahim Alkazi, Prithviraj
Kapoor, Balraj Sahni etc. These
discussions would be joined in
by Madhav Lal Tiku, his son Tej
Tiku etc. Invariably these
discussions
would turn to plays
staged by Kala Kendra. Father
knew everything about Elkazi’s
plays. He was a great learner
and never hesitated to own up
his
inadequacies. He knew Kashmir’s
folklore
pretty well and
harnessed
this to add new elements
into plays.
Father occasionally
listened to
music but
was not a
connoisseur of it. I have
only heard
him singing
‘Parbhaton
Ki Pedan...”
Suraj Tiku had
great sense of
history and
maintained an archive
of theatre
material. He was
careful not to
lend it to others
for the fear of
losing it.
Source:
Kashmir Sentinel
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