TAVAM has been imagined as two journeys in opposite directions: on the one hand, Arjuna’s journey to Mount Kailasa in search of the Pasupati weapon and, on the other hand, the journey of five young rural women Kattaikkuttu performers into a socially forbidden, male-only theatre world.

In order to achieve his passion, Arjuna needs to perform an austere penance (tavam) breaking off his social relationships with the human world (as can happen in the times of a pandemic). The journey of the women involves a different kind of tapas or resolve in which they need to negotiate the social constraints and the reasons rural society gives to prevent rural young women, who are fully trained in Kattaikkuttu, to continue their career in the performing arts, in particular also after marriage. At a more symbolic level these two journeys represent the transmission of the Guru (Arjuna) to his female students who will become part of the next generation of Kattaikkuttu performers and teachers.

The play intertwines three different threads: Excerpts from well-known Kattaikkuttu plays in which the women show their ability to perform both female and male roles in Kattaikkuttu style. These excerpts are mirrored by scenes, performed in a realistic acting style, showing the actresses in family and family-in-law settings and negotiating their passion to perform. Finally, Arjuna’s appearance and his songs from the Tamil Devaram (which normally feature in the off-stage performance of the play Arjuna's Tapas) provide a philosophical commentary on today's society and the problems the actresses face.

TAVAM interweaves the different threads of rural women performers’ inroads into a male theater form, Kattaikkuttu’s stigmatized nature as a theatre of the rural poor, social and family relationships and the impact of the pandemic on the live performing arts.

Rajagopal composed the script of the play on the basis of the input of the women performers during a series of residencies at the Sangam, in collaboration with Hanne M. de Bruin and Maitri Gopalakrishna. The arangetram of the live performance of TAVAM took place at the Kuttu Kalai Kudam on 23rd of September 2021.

In addition to the live performance, we made a cinematic adaptation of TAVAM. TAVAM the film  was shot on site by Bangalore-based film maker Sandhya Kumar. The one-hour film has English subtitles and can be screened on request.

The residencies of the women, the production and the film version have been made possible by funding from the Kattaikkuttu Sangam, Kalai Manram Foundation, Fideel, De Zaaier, International Relief Fund for Organizations in Culture and Education 2021, the German Federal Foreign Office, Goethe Institute (through) Ranga Shankara for supporting the filming of TAVAM.