Kulanthai Shanmugalingam also sometimes spelt as Kulandai Shanmugalingam[1] also known by his birth name Mayilvaganam Shanmugalingam[2] is a Sri Lankan Tamil theatre artist and playwright. He received his stage name Kulanthai for his innocence. He is regarded as Sri Lanka's oldest living playwright and dramatist at the age of 92 as of 2023.
He is very well known for his mannerism in shunning publicity, accolades and rarely makes public appearance and also rarely gives interviews. He vehemently refused a presidential award, an award conferred by the University of Jaffna. He was highly appreciated for his work ethics and for actively working for theatre not with the intention of seeking rewards in the form of awards or public recognition. He became an household name in Jaffna peninsula especially for his attitude and for his mutual respect for the sake of preserving art.
Shanmugalingam was born on 16 November 1931. He grew up as an introvert and a shy kid but also as a mama's boy being attached to his mother. He also learnt the diversity of Sri Lanka during his early childhood times as he spent his earliest childhood growing up in Bolawatta in the Negombo area among the Sinhalese. He was born in Jaffna but he was brought up in Bolawatta since three months as a toddler until the age of ten. His father worked as an estate official at Bolawatta.
Due to his exposure with Sinhalese people, he also learnt the art of Sinhalese language and also learnt English when he attended a Catholic school in Bolawatta. He grew up considering both Tamil and Sinhala to be his mother tongues. Kulanthai became familiar with Jaffna only after the age of ten.
His mother broke the shackles for him by sending him to join Thirunelvely Young Men's Hindu Association.[3] He was never initially focused or intended on becoming a dramatist or as theatre artiste. He eventually befriended popular Indian theatre actor Cho. Ramasamy when Kulanthai Shanmugalingam went to India to pursue his BA at Madras University although it was initially against his will as his mother wanted to him to complete the degree. He specialised in economics, history and politics in the BA from the Madras University and later received admission to join Bangalore Mysore University.
He returned to Sri Lanka in 1957 and soon got a job as a teacher at Senkundha Hindu College. He also worked for 22 years as a teacher at St. Joseph's College, Jaffna.
He also rejoined the Thirunelvely Young Men's Hindu Association. Soon after the conclusion of a bharathanatyam event at YMHA, he eventually decided to impress and make an impression in order to get the attention of Kalai-Arasu Sornalingam who was regarded as one of the stalwarts of Tamil theatre and he practiced the lines from popular Indian play Raja Raja Cholan. However, his efforts went in vain as Sornalingam left the event in a car much to the disappointment to Kulanthai. However, he got his wish come true again after six months post the incident in 1958 when Kalai-Arasu Sornalingam himself wanted to meet him.[4]
Kulanthai became a playwright due to the situational demand mostly since the veteran writer of that time, Sitpi Saravanapavan, had hectic schedules which forced him to be busy during most of the occasions. Saravanapavan gave his thought process and encouraged Kulanthai to carry out the work of playwright and since then there had been no stopping for Kulanthai as it was indeed a blessing in disguise for him to get limelight and recognition although becoming a playwright for him was merely an accident. He began his writing prowess for drama plays and he admitted he was never a genius although some of his plays made it to the school textbooks. Most of his writings were inspired from current events of the time. He predominantly worked on children's plays as his side job of being a school teacher was also a reason for the decision on him to clinging onto work mostly on children's plays.
He completed his diploma in Colombo in 1976 especially he was the sole Tamil student of drama as the diploma course ess taught mostly by Sinhala dramatists. He came to know aboutbthr diploma program through his Jaffna friends. He subsequently learnt the art of drama at the age of 45 during that diploma course from the veterans of drama including Dhamma Jagoda, Henry Jayasena, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Ernest MacIntyre, Solomon Fonseka and K. Sivathamby.
He inaugurated the school of drama and theatre way back in 1978 in Jaffna. He soon rose to the reputation as the household name across Jaffna as he was the main provider of entertainment to the general public at a time when the area was marred by civil conflicts. Most of his dramas during the critical juncture of Sri Lankan civil conflicts served as timely heal to the people in Northern Province and most of his dramas emphasised on the plight of the people faced in their daily lives.
His most popular playwright work till this date is Enthayum Thayum which he wrote in 1991 albeit at the request of his son who at that time stayed in Canada and his son wanted that the play should cover a timely relevant topic for Canadian Tamils. The play is also based on the lifestyle of parents who send their children abroad and then the parents are being left alone in their last years. The play became popular in other countries and was staged in several countries where Tamil diaspora was present and was also staged in Batticaloa and Colombo. He continued to make dramas with themes linking with the concepts of home, migration and displacement which was a familiar territory indeed for the people living in Northern parts of Sri Lanka since 1980s. His play Man Sumantha Meniyar (Sweat and dust on their shoulders) is linked with the peasants caught in the 40 year Sri Lankan civil war.
His drama Heaven with Hell also speaks volume about him being a canny operator in Tamil theatre history. The play was released in book form and it depicted the aspects about important topics such as migration and social mobility within the Tamil society while also combines philosophical aspects such as detachment and attachment.[5] The book Heaven with Hell was translated into English by S. Pathmanathan and it was launched in February 2022 in Jaffna.
He was one of the recipients of the Governor's Award in 2004 as part of the Provincial Tamil Literary Festival organized by the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Northeast Province.[6]