The figure of Margi Vijayakumar turns towards the thin ray of light that is streaming through a half open window, a silhouette with uplifted arms.
“I am playing Poothana of Poothana Moksham for an uncoming Kathakali performance. Although this is a role I have played innumerable times, I try to bring something new each time,” says the Kathakali maestro, as he pauses his practise of mudras and expressions at the kalari of Margi Natyagriham, Fort.
He turns off a Kathakali padam that is playing on his mobile phone, and turns on the lights and fan. The kalari is a rectangular space with a few wooden benches and cabinets. A few framed photographs of past Principals of the institute dot a wall.
Although there is a proper theatre attached to the institute and he has a practice space at his home in Thonakkal, Vijayakumar prefers polishing his various roles at the kalari.
Says Margi Vijayakumar, who was among the first batch of Kathakali students at Margi: “I love practising here because of the comfort level. The kalari is home to me; it’s a comfort zone. I grew up here and now teach and work here.”
The institute was much smaller and the facilities limited when he joined in 1979, he recalls. “This is where I gave dakshina to my guru Mankulam Vishnu Namboodiri and where I took my first steps towards Kathakali. It was a gurukal system, where the students stayed on campus and learnt the art form. This kalari space was what the institute consisted of then. We learnt, slept, and staged our performance in this limited space. The entrance door to the kalari is a recent addition. That wooden door at the back, which leads to the office, was the way in back then. By the way, the office and theatre space are new additions and the kalari walls were plain. The late D. Appukuttan Nair, a theatre aficionado and the one who created the brand name Margi was the one who designed the patterns and motifs on the wall. The motifs, such as the sun you see on that wall, are all his ideas,” says Vijayakumar, who is the principal of the institute.
Vijaykumar, who is known for his sthree veshams is currently trying his hand at Minnuku roles.
“I felt like doing something new, something challenging. Although I could play the leading male roles, I don’t because it could affect my expressions and gait when I don the role of female characters. However this doesn’t mean I have given up on sthree veshams,” says Vijayakumar. The Kathakali padam is back on and the artiste resumes his practise.
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