Unnayi Warrier’s Nalacharitham, in four parts, narrates the story of King Nala and his consort Damayanthi. An all-time favourite of Kathakali enthusiasts, rasikas recently got an opportunity to watch all the four parts of the play on consecutive nights during ‘Nalacharitha Mahotsavam’, an event to celebrate the work at Pallickathodu in Kottayam district.
It was even more special as the festival featured none other than Kalamandalam Gopi, an actor who is considered a synonym for the role of Nala/Bahuka, presenting the protagonist all along.
Impressive portrayal
Gopi was in full flow during the initial slow tempo padam of the second day’s play. The keywords in the literature were presented emphatically, highlighting the context. For instance, one could feel all the trials and tribulations Nala had to go through to finally win the hand of Damayanthi, as he presented ‘labhichu’ in the line Indu vadane ninne labhichu.... The rest of the scene also went well with a few commonly presented narratives added towards the end.
After losing the game of dice to his half-brother Pushkara, Nala leaves the palace with Damayanthi. The actor has created a niche for himself in the presentation of the scene in the forest and the subsequent ‘verpadu’ episode. He presented it briefly, but that didn’t make the scene less compelling and he was still able to create that excitement among the viewers.
Kalamandalam Krishnakumar as Pushkara, Kalamandalam Ramachandran Unnithan as Kali and Panamattam Soman as Dwapara
On the following night, he presented the role of Bahuka, the disfigured form of Nala, poisoned by Karkotaka. Yet again, he came good in the initial padam dealing with the scene showing Bahuka greeting the serpent king. He then presented a deer delivering her fawn in the midst of extremely adverse conditions. The role of Bahuka is pretty long and the octogenarian actor seemed a bit exhausted in the rest of the portions. While he tried his best to deliver, it fell a little short of the high standards that he had set himself.
Doing their part
Damayanthi got the same attention as that of Nala and on the second day, Margi Vijayakumar played the role to perfection. The two actors have performed together for many years and that’s one reason why the two make a great combination on stage. On the third day the character appeared only in one scene and Kalamandalam Kashinath did a fine job there.
Other than the two lead roles, a number of other characters came in between, taking the story forward. Kalamandalam Ramachandran Unnithan appeared in the role of Kali and he focused more on making it an elaborate show rather than a substantial one. Kalamandalam Krishnakumar’s take on Pushkara was noteworthy.
Margi Vijayakumar as Damayanthi and Kottakkal Devadas as Kattalan
Another role that caught the attention of the audience was that of Kattalan, played by Kottakkal Devadas. He was able to present the character in a lighter vein without overdoing anything. On the third day, Rithuparna (Kalakendram Harish), Jeevala (Kalamandalam Vipin) and Mathur Govindankutty (Sudeva) came on top. Kalamandalam Bhagyanath, Kalamandalam Sibi Chakravarthy, Kalarangam Kannan and Panamattam Soman filled the rest of the roles.
Music and percussion
Other than the actors, the four days of the festival also saw many noted singers and percussionists coming together. Kottakkal Madhu and Pathiyoor Sankarankutty led the singers on the second and third day. They both did their job well in the company of Kalanilayam Rajeevan, Nedumpally Ram Mohan and Kalamandalam Vishnu. Kalamandalam Balachandran was yet another lead singer who did his best for the scenes involving Kattalan.
The four-day event was organised by Sarangi Samskarika Vedi, a cultural wing of Aravinda Charitable Society. An exhibition of photographs by Radhakrishna Warrier and the screening of the documentary film Vesham: Kalamandalam Gopi directed by him were also held as part of the festival.
