ess all the rasas (moods/emotions). "2ø Sambanda laboured over the translation for six years, and while the
names were Tamilised, the story remained faithful to the original. In
performance, a broad localization was aimed at, but the gravedigger
scene posed a problem in the change to a Hindu ethos since cremation
and not burial is the norm. But Sambanda interposed a Dravidian
burial ritual, similar to the Christian ones of Denmark, to fully
naturalise the play.
To prepare for the role of Hamlet, he says he read "almost all
the books that were available on this play ... in the libraries in
Chennai [Madras] in particular... all the critical works written on this
character, Hamlet ... and what eminent actors had written about how
they played this role." He mentions he studied how Edmund Kean,
Kemble, Beerbohm Tree, Edwin Booth, Forbes Robertson, Frank
Benson and others played Hamlet. Confessing that he was left
"thoroughly confused" he tried to find his own way relying on his
actor's instincts. "It is the performer's part that is tough. For, those
who do scholarly studies would see the validity of both schools in the
debate and step aside contented that they. had done their work. But the
actor has to believe in one or the other [view] and perform
accordingly. "2 His final conclusion about Hamlet's madness, a
somewhat lucid piece of literary. criticism and a rare one on Hamlet
by an Indian actor, arrived at over a hundred years ago, is worth
quoting in some detail:
Amaladityan (Hamlet) was in a very disturbed state of mind due
to his father's untimely
