At Maa Maram, our collective expertise in theatre spans a wide range of roles and backgrounds. Within our ensemble, we have actors, directors, puppeteers, and versatile artists who excel in various aspects of the craft. We have a significant presence in both regional and urban theatre, encompassing all South Indian languages in addition to English. We are all artists who have undergone rigorous training in acting and the craft of theatre. Our team members are well-versed in diverse disciplines such as martial arts, music, movement, and dance. All of us have a proven track record of delivering theatre-focused workshops tailored for schools, colleges, fellow actors, and corporate entities.
FOUNDERS
Kavin jay Babu
Kavin jay Babu Alias Ganapathy Hariharan is one of the founders of Maamaram. He is an Actor and Knowledge Sharer. He is an actor who works primarily in Tamil theatre and Tamil films. He learnt his theatre craft working with the Chennai based theatre group Koothu-p- Pattarai, he was part of that group for over a decade. As part of that group, Babu acted in over 25 plays and performed in over 600 shows. He also directed Vali Vadam for Chennai Sangamam and Sundara Ramasamy’s short stories Prasadam and Akarai cheemayil. From 2013 he has worked as an independent actor. He wrote, directed and performed the solo “ The Roosters Tale- Sevalin Kathae”- a show that was very well received. Super Deluxe, Writer & Dinosaurs are some of the well received Tamil movies he has acted in. He has also acted in the popular Tamil web series Sweet Karan Coffee on Amazon Prime. He is accomplished in sharing theatre knowledge and craft with corporate leaders to understand leadership. He also does acting workshops for college and school students and fellow actors. He is a dedicated practitioner of Taekwondo, Yoga and Carnatic music and believes deeply that they keep him centered and fit, both physically and mentally.
S Santhakumar
S Santhakumar is one of the founders of Maa Maram. He is a theatre actor who started his acting career full time in 2001 with Koothu-p-pattarai, a well known Tamil theatre group based in Chennai. He was a part of this group for over 10 years. During his stint there he worked with various theatre personalities from India and abroad. He has acted in over 25 Tamil plays including proscenium and street Plays. He currently acts in plays, movies & short films. Since 2011 he has also worked with CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS-France that performs clown shows for underprivileged children. He is one of the key clowns of the Chennai chapter. He has conducted theatre based workshops for school & college kids. He has also conducted workshops for actors and for film production houses. He has been part of and offered workshops to many corporate clients like TCS, Britannia, GE exports & Pudiya Thalaimurai (Tamil entertainment channel) to name a few. He believes that everyone of us is an actor naturally but very few amongst us choose it as their profession. Games and a playful mind are some of the easiest ways to approach acting. Other than being an actor, he is an animal friendly person (not animal lover).
OUR PARTNER
Aparna Gopinath
Aparna Gopinath is an actor, director, choreographer and clown. She began her theatre journey as an amateur actor, collaborating with multiple theatre groups and directors during and from her school days, over a period of more than 20 years. Some of the groups she worked with are Masquerade, Madras Players, Magic Lantern, The Little Theatre, Koothu-P-Pattarai, Perch, and Clowns Without Borders. While pursuing her Masters in English Literature, she joined Koothu-P-Pattarai, a contemporary modern Tamil Theatre group founded by the late Mr. Na.Muthusamy (a prolific writer and teacher) in Chennai, Tamil Nādu. Her stint with Koothu-P-Pattarai lasted around four years. Being a film actor, she has worked in a few projects in the Kerala film industry. Some of the movies she has been part of are Abcd, Bicycle Thieves, Mannar Mathai Speaking ll, Happy Journey, Gangster, Munnariyippu,Onnam Logam Mahayudham, Charlie, School Bus, Saghavu, Mazhayathu, Oru Nakshatramulla Aakasham, Safe. She loves the stage, she loves performing and the various many mediums of it and there by being able to open doors along with children and adults to discover selves through theatre dance and laughter.
OUR ASSOCIATES
Nirmal
Prabhu
Nirmal Prabhu has been working in theatre since 2008, learning Iyengar Yoga under the disciple-ship of Thiru. Gayathri Ramesh since 2016. He is an aspiring coach with a CCC level certificate. He loves working with his body, learning to tap into its intelligence. The last few years his journey has been into health & well-being; learning first-hand from his own experiences; devising a personal program encountering its deep inter-connectedness with Theatre & Yoga. Just a lifetime of learning & sharing.
Rency
Philip
Rency Philip is a theatre-maker based in Bangalore working as a performer and scenographer. Trained in contemporary artistic puppetry, physical comedy and mask work, she has performed extensively at various festivals and venues in India and internationally. Her work spans from devised theatre into the postdramatic, exploring site-specific work, fragmented texts, digital media and puppet theatre. In 2018, she was awarded the Inlaks Award for theatre. She was a fellow at the Theatertreffen International Forum 2019 in Berlin. She also teaches in schools and facilitates training programmes for leadership and gender inclusivity.
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Prasanna Ramkumar
Prasanna Ram Kumar is a theatre practitioner practising his art for the last 10 years of which a large part of it was with Koothu-p-pattarai, Chennai. Currently he is a freelancer, free to work with any group. He along with his friends started a theatre group named "Theatre ko" in Kovur, Chennai. He aspires to work in films and theatre. Apart from theatre and films, he loves to play chess.
Vinod Ravindran
Vinod Ravindran is a theatre performer, director, writer, theatre teacher and a corporate trainer. He has been practicing theatre for over two decades. He is passionate about collaborations across disciplines and his last few works, “On Living With The World” and “On A Different Note” reflect this. Vinod is enthusiastic about engaging with young minds in colleges and universities. He sees theatre as a space of infinite possibilities. He has helped leaders/managers from several organizations through creative and impactful learning programs in the areas of communication, collaboration, leadership and teamwork. He strives to bring the power of theatre into learning programs to deliver impact. He lives in Bangalore and is working on honing his skill at making better sambar and overcoming his fear of paperwork.