136 Years of Surabhi Drama Tradition
{ One Family }
Surabhi JayachandraVarma
group
- Fraud Alert -
He is a Prominent person with lots of new ideas for the consolidation and purposeful continuity of the Surabhi system.
SURABHI JAYACHANDRA VARMA
(S J VARMA)
Sangeet Natak Akademi YUVA Awardee
Please beware of FRAUD People, There are certain fake messages circulating on social media pertaining to the association of S V Surabhi theatre, They are using our websites and photos and our achievements, please beware of that people and please Understand which group or person you are contacting before, This group is belongs to Inherited S J VARMA (JAYACHANDRAVARMA), Cell : +91 9912924723, He is the Grandson of Surabhi Babji Garu Padmashri Awardee, Babji Garu Grandson of Vanarasa Govinda rao( Founder of Surabhi), WE ARE ALSO PERFORM OUR DRAMA'S ON ONLINE LIVE STREAMING WITH 3 CAMERAS
SRI VENKATESWARA SURABHI THEATRE
Surabhi is a rare institution of family groups that leads nomadic life by performing dramas. Surabhi has a track record of 135years. Most of the Surabhi plays are the compendiums from the Indian epics and mythiologies Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Bhagavatha . It is famous for its Padya Natakam (The classical verse play) performances adorned with colorful illusionary backgrounds, sets and trick scenes. The interesting thing about this troupe is that all artists/technicians of this troupe are from one family, dedicated their lives to drama. There are no age limitations or retirements for the artists of this family..There was a time that Surabhi troupes could tremendously survived all over Telangana & Andhra Pradesh. Sri Venkateswara surabhi theatre which is well known as the Surabhi Jayachandra Varma troupe is one of the survived group to till date.
ABOUT
Surabhi is a rare institution of family groups that leads nomadic life by performing dramas in villages. Surabhi has a track record of 136years. Most of the Surabhi plays are the compendiums from the Indian epics and mythiologies Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Bhagavatha . There was a time that Surabhi troupes could tremendously survived all over Andhra Pradesh. Sri Venkateswara Surabhi Theatre which is well known as the S J VARMA
(Jayachandra Varma) is one of the survived groups to till date
First stage production - Keechaka Vadha:
The puppet team of the Vanarasa family had become very popular. Their shows became a part of any important ceremony either in village festivals or ceremonies in big families of rich landlords. From a village near Jammalamadugu, there came a call to enact a puppet show during a wedding ceremony in a rich Reddy landlord's house. The village was Sorugu, which is now called Surabhi, and the landlords were Allapureddy Chennareddy and Kovvuru Ramireddy(the former's daughter is given to the latter's son) who were known in the taluq for their munificence and were known patrons of puppet shows. Here, Vanarasa Govindarao found a good opportunity to convert the puppet show 'Keechaka Vadha - A tale from the epic Maha Bharatha' to a theatrical performance. Thats the starting point. With the huge success of the show, the puppetry family cahnged into a classical theatrical family. As the early plays of the group were staged at Surabhi village and since most of the artists lived in the same area, the group came to be known as Surabhi. .
Introducing women on the stage
The contribution of Surabhi community to the promotion of Telugu theatre and culture is price less. It was this group that brought women to the stage fro the first time (Till 1885, the contemporary drama groups used to come up with the male artists performing female roles since the restrictions of the society didn't allow women to explore on stage. Since the Surabhi is a family system, women were motivated to perform the women roles on their own stage). It also popularised gramphone records, contributed actors to film, and took theatre beyond the geographical boundaries of andhra Pradesh.