For the past three months, a rehearsal space at Dr BR Ambedkar Open University in Hyderabad has been home to the 15-member cast and crew of the Janapadam Modern Travelling Theatre Repertory. They have been preparing Neelaveni, a new Telugu play that was staged at Ravindra Bharathi.
“Neelaveni is unique because it explores the conflict between unconditional love and physical desire,” says director Srinivas Denchanala. “It is also a postmodern work that questions conventional perceptions of a man’s approach to a woman while giving voice to marginalised and neglected communities through political inquiry.”
The writing credits carry both poet, playwright, actor, critic, stage designer and director Srinivas Denchanala and the late playwright Gollapudi Maruthi Rao. Srinivas explains that while Neelaveni is an original political play, it draws inspiration from one of Gollapudi’s works.
“In his play, Gollapudi garu wrote about blind people living together. I borrowed that central idea, so I felt it was only right to credit him as well,” he says.
Four decades and more
Srinivas Denchanala discusses a scene
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Special Arrangement
For more than four decades, Srinivas has used theatre as a voice for the voiceless. The 64 productions staged by his troupe reflect a consistent vision: to nurture indigenous talent, draw from local imagination and create art rooted in the lived experiences of communities often left out of the mainstream.
His NGO, Janapadam, which means countryside in Telugu, has spent the past 42 years working at the grassroots in theatre, folklore, culture and literature. Registered as a social and cultural society, its repertory has performed across towns, villages and tribal regions of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, besides participating in national and international theatre festivals.
“Through our work with marginalised castes, communities and groups, we use modern theatre to encourage people to question social, economic, cultural, environmental and gender oppression,” says Srinivas.
Growing up
Artistes of ‘Neelaveni’ during rehearsals
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Special Arrangement
Hailing from an artisan community in Krishnapuram, in Telangana’s Khammam district, Srinivas’ fascination with theatre continued after intermediate, when he began performing in leftist plays and Parishat Natakalu — productions created primarily for theatre festivals and competitions.
In 1989, when the Sangeet Natak Akademi organised a contemporary theatre festival in Hyderabad. Srinivas’ production was the only Telugu play selected, sharing the stage with works by 12 eminent theatre practitioners, including Habib Tanvir and Girish Karnad.
“It was a turning point,” he recalls. “For the first time, I experienced modern Indian theatre as a synthesis of Western realism and indigenous performance traditions.”
Post-modern themes
Incorporating Yakshagana in the play
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Special Arrangement
Srinivas describes his work as “political artistic theatre”, where music, choreography, masks, lighting and space are as integral to storytelling as dialogue. “Just as a painter uses colours, I use indigenous forms and traditions as my performance vocabulary,” he says. “But at its core, my theatre engages with modern and postmodern ideas and questions.”
Creating grassroots theatre has never been easy, especially with limited resources and infrastructure. Yet, Srinivas continues.
“Every time I begin a new play, I think about the struggles and feel like stopping,” he says. “But I never do. I start all over again because I come from the grassroots myself. My goal is to bridge the rural-urban divide and connect marginalised and indigenous communities with opportunities through theatre.”
Published – July 17, 2026 08:54 am IST
