Kapila Venu first heard about the legendary Kumara Gandharva from her famous father G. Venu, who had heard his first Gandharva concert when he was touring Madhya Pradesh to explore various art forms. The legendary singer had since then become an icon of sorts for her. So to have received this year’s Kumar Gandharva Samman was an unexpected and moving honour for Kapila.
In fact, the award, instituted by the Department of Culture, Madhya Pradesh, in 1992, was presented to an actor of classical theatre for the first time this year. “I feel older now and my responsibility as an actor seems heavier. I consider the award a recognition of the uniqueness of the Ammannur Madhava Chakyar school of Koodiyattam as well,” said Kapila.
As one of the youngest professional Koodiyattam artistes in India today, Kapila indeed carries a rather heavy burden on her petite shoulders. Her guru, the late Ammannur Madhava Chakyar, Padma Bhushan awardee and performer supreme, had also been honoured many years ago by the Madhya Pradesh government, with the prestigious Kalidas Samman for his immortal contribution to art.
The daughter of Koodiyattam exponent Venu and Mohiniyattam artiste Nirmala Panicker, Kapila is a striking paradigm of cultural synthesis. As a student of Lawrence School in Lovedale, she was brought up in a multicultural milieu, but the four months of vacation she spent each year at Irinjalakuda, where her father was busy resuscitating Koodiyattam under Ammannur Madhava Chakyar, helped her to learn and fall in love with this ancient Sanskrit theatre form of Kerala.
Start at seven
At Irinjalakuda, she was initiated into Koodiyattam at the age of seven. After basic lessons with Usha Nangiar (Madhava Chakyar’s first female disciple), she was taken under the wings of Madhava Chakyar, who taught her for nearly 10 years in the gurukula tradition.
A strict taskmaster, Madhava Chakyar began by grooming her in the recitation of the slokas in the 24 Swaras, in Nethrabhinaya, and in select pieces such as ‘Sikhini Salabham’, ‘Kailasodharanam’ and ‘Koppaniyikkal’, classics in the Koodiyattam repertoire.
Swaras in Koodiyattam are a singular style of recitation, different from that of music. They are employed to evoke the right emotions for different characters. Proficiency in Sanskrit is a must to understand and emote, and as she showed the grit to persevere, Madhava Chakyar was able to mould the young girl into a consummate performer over the years.
Practising Mohiniyattam under her mother was but natural, and her performances fetched her fame quickly. Even more valuable was her exposure to Kalaripayattu, Yoga, Kathakali, theatre, puppetry, folk art and more at her father’s institution, Natanakairali, which has been pursuing a holistic approach to art forms for over four decades now. The confluence of experiences brought her finally to a crossroads where she had to decide whether she wanted to pursue many art forms or focus on one.
Kapila Venu was initiated into Koodiyattam at the age of seven.
Kapila finally opted for Koodiyattam, the theatre form that takes abhinaya to sublime levels. The annual 12-day Koodiyattam festival organised by the Ammannur Gurukulam and the regular shows organised by Natanakairali served to enrich her stage experience and encouraged her to attempt varied veshams or characters in a rich display of versatility.
In Koodiyattam, the actor’s body is the stage. And Pakarnattam or the portrayal of multiple characters by a single dancer is a primary technique. Kapila has staged Narasinhavataram in Nangiarkoothu, a derivative of Koodiyattam that is an exclusive solo performance by women, several times, both in India and abroad. Her delineation of Hiranyakasipu, of the ferocious Narasimha, and the meek Prahalada has won her rave reviews. “Rasikas literally mobbed me when I presented it in Bhopal after the award ceremony,” she said, smiling.
What is special about Madhava Chakyar’s technique? ‘Rasa vaayu’ trains a dancer to evoke rasas or emotions by controlling the breath or vaayu. Madhava Chakyar had been trained in this and more by Bhagavathar Kunjunni Thampuran of Kodungallur Palace in Thrissur district, a veritable university of the 1800s, once considered the seat of all branches of knowledge. In 1982, when Madhava Chakyar enacted the death sequence of Bali in the play Balivadham at Riverside Studios in London, Kenneth Rea, theatre critic at The Guardian , commented, “One of the bravest and most outrageous pieces of acting I have ever seen. Who else would dare take 15 minutes to die on stage and get away with it?”
Precious legacy
Madhava Chakyar took care to bequeath this precious technique to all his disciples and Kapila is no exception, a gift she acknowledges gratefully. Kapila’s enactment of Sakuntala in the 12-hour production of Natanakairali’s Sakuntalam has won her the most praise from critics and thespians the world over. She has also been busy with collaborations. Five years with Min Tanaka, the avant-garde exponent of Japan’s Butoh dance, drilled into her the significance of manual labour for facing the mental challenges of performance. Other associations include with Wally Cardona, American choreographer, dancer and teacher; Peter Oskarson, the protagonist of the World Theatre Project in Sweden; Hanna Tuulikki, Scotland’s environment-conscious musician… the list is long.
Interestingly, her outstanding communication skills, both verbal and artistic, have made her a resourceful teacher in recent years. “Interacting with students of IITs, JNU and other institutions convinced me that most youngsters were highly talented. I have really enjoyed working with young students in schools too,” she said. She is today a visiting faculty at the National School of Drama in Delhi and at the Intercultural Institute in Singapore, where she trains students of contemporary theatre in abhinaya based on Koodiyattam techniques. At home, she is director of Natanakairali.
The interest shown by an enthusiastic young audience in Madhya Pradesh in Sanskrit theatre has fuelled a new wish now; to open a Koodiyattam centre there. “I am sure I will be able to realise this dream in the near future,” she said with characteristic enthusiasm.
The writer is a former professor of physics at Christ College, Irinjalakuda, and writes extensively on art and culture.
