Named after Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, the marvel of Kathakali stage, and Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma, the prima donna of Mohiniyattam, Kalyanakrishna Foundation has been organising three-day dance and music festivals for the past several years. The highlights of this year's festival at Changampuzha Park, Edappally, Kochi, were a Nangiarkoothu recital by Kapila Venu and a Mohiniyattam performance by Smitha Rajan.
Nangiarkoothu, the female counterpart of Koodiyattam, was a fading dance form by the early decades of the 20th century. It, however, regained its prominence in the late nineties. The solo recital offers the Nangiar abundant scope to present characters employing the technique of pakarnattam (the same actor representing different characters). Kapila Venu, an exceptional performer in the field, presented an excerpt from the episode, ‘Kamsavadham,' from ‘Sreekrishnacharitam.'
Fine use of navarasas
In the delineation of a single sloka, Kapila depicted the entry of Krishna and Balarama to the court of their uncle Kamsa and its after effects.
Putting the navarasas to good use, Kapila brought to life the story through the gamut of expressions Krishna and Balarama, the courtiers and Kamsa go through. The wonder with which the courtiers adore the gloriously handsome ‘children,' the children pulling out the tusks of the elephant, Kuvalayapeetom, and the heroism of Kamsa giving way to fear bore an unusual density in the facial expressions and movements of Kapila.
Kalamandalam Rajeev and Kalamandalam Hariharan who accompanied her on the mizhavu provided befitting aural dynamism to the chaturvidhabhinaya.
Smitha Rajan has inherited in no small measure the expressional grandeur of her grandfather, Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, and the rhythmic fecundity of her grandmother, Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma. She began her concert with a slokam in praise of Lord Ganesa evocatively rendered by Vijesh Krishnan in raga Ranjini.
The keerthana that followed, ‘Nartanamadum sriganapathiye,' penned by Kalyanikutty Amma, embodied ardent devotion, which Smitha portrayed with dedication. A slice of tanam by the vocalist further accentuated the bhava.
Parvathy and Siva
‘Devinavarasaslokam' in raga Revathi followed by ‘Sive! Sringarardre' from Sankaracharya's ‘Soundaryalahari,' starting with raga Anandabhairavi, was a weighty presentation. Lord Siva, seen through the eyes of Goddess Parvathy, was the focus of this piece. Through Parvathy, the dancer scrupulously expressed the nine different rasas. Of them, Parvathy's envy of Goddess Ganga who flows from the tresses of Lord Siva and depiction of the Lord opening his third eye and turning Kamadeva into ash were outstanding. A string of ragas such as Dhanyasi, Kedaragaulam, Hamsadhwani, Varali, Atana, Kanada, and Sindhubhairavi added to the emotional timbre of the item.
Kunti's tale
The final item of the recital was titled, ‘Kunthi Devi.' C.P. Unnikrishnan's lyrics aptly summarise the story of Kunthi. Smitha excellently portrayed Karna's tormented soul and the agony he goes through when he discovers Kunti is his mother.
In ragas Natta, Saraswathy, Charukesi, Madhuvanthy, Thodi, Kanada, Surutti, Sindhubhairavi, and Vasanthi, the emotions of the two characters were built up, leaving the spectators spellbound.
Although at times, Smitha showed a tendency for over dramatisation, the gravity with which she treats the characters and her commitment to the art are incomparable. The background music provided by competent artistes such as Syam K. Mohan on the mridangam, Muralikrishna on the veena, Hari Tripunithura on the edakka, and Ajith Varma on the flute was occasionally overbearing.
Sridevi Rajan recited the nattuvankam while Vijeesh's emotion-soaked singing was a bit too loud in relation to the visualisation.
