A Kathakali fete organised along with the annual Nishagandhi Dance Festival in Thiruvananthapuram included an interesting recital of Rugmamgadacharitham with evergreen hero Kalamandalam Gopi and his favorite co-actor Margi Vijayakumar donning the lead roles.
Select scenes of the first and third days of Nalacharitham were staged on two evenings with Kottakkal Chandrasekhara Warrier and Kalamandalam Balasubrahmanyan presenting Nala and Bahuka. Both the performances were outstanding.
For those rasikas fond of characters in the kathi make-up, Banayudham, an avowedly southern Kerala favourite, Duryodhanavadham and Keechakavadham, southern in their place of origin only, were enacted with Madavoor Vasudevan Nair, Kalamandalam Krishnakumar and Kalamandalam Pradeep enacting the principal roles.
For fans of red beard characters, Balivadham was enacted with Kalamandalam Hari R. Nair and Kalamandalam Neeraj donning Bali and Sugreeva respectively. Kalamandalam Balakrishnan’s vibrant delineation of the character Dussasana too showcased the red beard characters potentialities.
Women in focus
Ranjini Suresh as Sairandhri in Keechakavadham
Following Margi Vijayakumar who brought to light the multifaceted character Mohini, other lead roles among female characters were made memorable by Kalamandalam Shanmughan as Damayanthi on the first day of Nalacharitham , Kalamandalam Rajasekharan as Chithralekha, Oyur Ramachandran as Draupadi and Ranjini Suresh as Sairandhri.
The Swan (Hamsam), Damayanthi’s companions, Karkotaka, Rithuparna, Sudeva, Damayanthi in the third day of Nalacharitham , Seetha, Usha, Sudeshna and Valala have crucial roles to play in the episodes in question. Adept players like Mathur Govindan Kutti and Margi Suresh injected liveliness into the context, while handing those roles, although they don’t involve characters counted as major. Suresh’s Thiranottam as Karkotaka, the serpent, was outstanding on account of his excellent make-up and serpentine movements.
Kalamandalam Pradeep as Keechaka
The veterans’ dexterous treatment of the romance in the episodes of Rugmamgada and Nala on two successive days clearly brought out the differences in delineating several stages of love and separation. Shanmughan’s picturesque presentation of the swan’s flight — take off, flying away and finally disappearing in the sky as a thin golden thread proved superb as it synchronised with the actor’s exit too leaving in the minds of the audience, golden strips of memories of his sterling performance. Damayanthi’s companions, essayed by Kalamandalam Jishnu Ravi and Kalamandalam Arun, contributed significantly to intensify the heroine’s pangs of love through appropriate reference to objects in the vicinity.
Enthralling presentation
Kalamandalam Balasubrahmanyan as Bahuka
Peesappilli Rajeevan’s ‘white’ Nala did full justice even to the suggestive meanings and subtle nuances of Unnayi’s exquisite play text. What followed was Kalamandalam Balasubrahmanyan’s enchanting delineation of the miserable plight of ‘black’ Nala or Bahuka. His visualisation of the padams Vijane batha and Mariman kanni , rendered to mellifluous music by Kalamandalam Ram Mohan was enthralling.
Kalamandalam Krishnakumar and Kalamandalam Balakrishnan playing the roles of Duryodhana and Dussasana filled the stage. Their pompous entry into Dharmaputra’s court and their confusion between the gem-studded sparkling floor and pool of clear water was elaborately enacted, embellishing almost every moment with humour. Mayyanadu Rajeevan’s portrayal maintained Krishna’s pleasant but dignified demeanour. Manifestation of his cosmic form, however, would have been more appropriate had he taken his position on the stool.
In Keechakavadham, Sairandhri, donned by Ranjini Suresh, was about to adorn her exuberant hair with a beautiful flower. Remembering that it remained untied as per her apocalyptic vow, she threw it away. Kalamandalam Pradeep, essaying Keechaka and posing himself as the handsome god of love shot a flower on Sairandhri’s right cheek and presented a basket-full of flowers at her feet, producing repugnance on her part.
Both the artists deserve bouquets for this imaginative innovation, introduced, apparently for the first time on the Kathakali stage.
The fete was organised by the Department of Tourism.
