Malay and Tamil culture come together in tragic love story

Sugeeta Chandran as Ratna (right) and Idham Maulana as Nasir in scene in the theatre show 'Ratna Kadhal', now showing at PJPAC. Photo: Revolution Stage

When Krishnan, a young Indian gardener, wants to learn about the responsibilities of husband and wife in Muslim culture, he turns to Ustazah Kamisah. His curiosity stems from his relationship with his mother Ratna, a traditional dancer in the 1950s.

As Krishnan recounts the tales of his mother to the teacher, he reveals that she fell in love with a Malay man named Nasir. While their relationship proved that love can build bridges between different cultures, both Ratna and Nasir belonged to opposing ends of an Indian-Malay rivalry, the Siva tribe and Lokman tribe respectively.

With tensions rising between the two tribes, both conspiring to take down the other, the star-crossed lovers are forced to hide their relationship. After learning the shocking conclusion of Krishnan’s story, Ustazah Kamisah was forced to leave, but not before leaving behind an important book.

For the first time in over a decade, Revolution Stage, in collaboration with JKKN Selangor, is revisiting this tragic love story.

The 90-minute bilingual theatre show Ratna Kadhal, which playing at PJPAC, 1 Utama, Petaling Jaya until Oct 15, has received an enthusiastic response since its opening on Wednesday.

"For Ratna Kadhal in 2023, in addition to bringing Indian actors to portray the characters Ratna, Siva, and Krishnan, there are also some changes in direction and visual storytelling to make it more captivating and larger in scale as compared to previous performances," says Khairunazwan Rodzy, the show's producer, director and writer.

"We want to continue the tradition and main mission of Revolution Stage, where we not only provide entertainment but also deliver meaningful messages, while inviting more Malaysians to watch and appreciate local theatre," he adds.

It is a rare occasion for Revolution Stage in presenting a performance done in Bahasa Malaysia and Tamil.

In addition to bringing Indian actors to portray the characters, there is plenty of cultural overlap displayed through the visuals, music and dance of the performance.

Inspired by the beauty of the Tamil language, Khairunazwan always wanted to learn it himself from a young age.

"During previous iterations of Ratna Kadhal, where most of the actors were Malay, I insisted on having language coaches and training sessions for them in order to master the Tamil tongue. This new visual and conceptual approach will allow the audience to delve deeper into the performance," he says.

On stage, the actors for this new version of Ratna Kadhal include Sugeeta Chandran, Uyaina Arshad, Rosdeen Suboh, Idham Maulana and Aghonderan Sahadevan. Baihaq Majid, and Khal Isyaf are among the newcomers for this production.

More info here.