It was a stage that brought together some of the superstars of Kathakali in ten performances to essay the virtuous ( satwik) characters known as Pacha Vesham (artists who adorn green face makeup) in Pathu Pacha that was organised by Team Sathwikam.
The Sitaram Kalyanamandapam hall at Tripunithura was a full house when the night-long show began on Saturday and the first performance was by Kalamandalam Gopi as Arjunan in the story Subhadraharam. Known for his pacha vesham, the sensitive performance of Gopi Asan, as the maestro is called, in the scene Malayidal set the tone for the night.
About twelve hours of Kathakali provided short scenes from the stories that had a crucial part by the pacha vesham . Kalakeyavadham was brought on stage by Sadanam Krishnankutty as Arjun, son of Indra, in a scene when he was being escorted to his father’s abode in heaven by charioteer Mathali.
In Kirmeeravadham, Yudhistir’s role was played by Kottakkal Chandrasekhara Warrier in a scene where the eldest of Pandavas speaks his heart out to Sri Krishna on how his cousins Kauravas had cheated them. Sri Krishna when calls for Sudharsana (weapon) to kill the Kauravas, the Dharmaputra panics. On seeing his distress, Sri Krishna calls back the Sudharsana.
Scenes from the first, second and third day of Nalacharitham were portrayed by Kalamandalam Krishnakumar, Kalamandalam Balasubramanian and Kalamandalam Vasu Pisharodi respectively telling the unfortunate and eventful story of the celebrated king of Nishadha kingdom.
The powerful Pandava Bheem was portrayed by Kottakkal Kesavan in the story of Bakavadham, FACT Mohanan played Karna in the story Karnasaptham and Kalamandalam Pradeep essayed the role of Dakshan in Dakshayagam.
The Team Sathwikam will be helping needy Kathakali artistes with the funds that were collected.
