In the flickering light of traditional lamps, characters from the Indian epics come alive: heroes, heroines, villains, saints and gods. Dressed in billowing skirts and vibrant colours, they turn the stage into royal courts, chambers, bedrooms, gardens, jungles and battlefields. These larger-than-life characters and their stories enchanted filmmaker and lyricist Shruthi Namboodiri, also an enthusiast of Kathakali. She was intrigued by gender binaries in a “male dominated art form like Kathakali”.
For years, it was the men who enacted every character, be it male or female. However, with many women comfortably stepping on to the stage in myriad roles, the gendered spaces expanded to include new dynamics.
It was Shruthi’s fascination and curiosity to learn more about the mental and physical preparations of the women who have recently stepped into playing both male and female roles in Kathakali that motivated her to make the short film Itharam , which was premièred in Kochi recently.
“For years, even romantic characters such as Damayanthi, Usha, and Subhadra were enacted by men. However, now there are interesting situations in which a woman might play a male character while a man might essay a woman’s role,” says the director, whose earlier films include Anon,Baale, and Charulatha .
“While watching art forms like Kathakali, I often put myself in their place and think of the characters and actors who enact them. In my view, Kathakali is such a male-oriented art form. It is designed for the male gaze and for male artistes,” she explains.
Shruthi Namboodiri
To understand the dynamics of the stage, her film zooms in on cross dressing prevalent in Kathakali. For Itharam , she cast Parvathi Menon as Keechaka and Peesappilly Rajeevan as Sairandhari in a key episode from Keechakavadham , an excerpt from the Mahabharatha.
Shruthi’s film shows the lead actors at home — as a homemaker, householder, parent, spouse, and so on. She also focusses on the transformation that takes place on the stage as Parvathi becomes the dominant Keechaka and Rajeevan dons the role of the subservient Sairandhari, who is trying hard to ward off the advances of Keechaka.
According to Shruthi, the female characters written for Kathakali have a tinge of masculinity and there is less of lasya . “The plays have been written by men; they have fleshed out the characters and have also enacted them. Moreover, some of the male characters exhibit an exaggerated masculinity. To do justice to those heroes and villains, how do the women prepare themselves? Is there is a change in their mental and physical constructs?” she wonders.
Parvathi does not reply to that question with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The consummate artiste who has made a name for herself with her power-packed performances as Duryodhana, Ravana and so on says: “As a woman, I do take care to see that my Keechaka or Duryodhana embody the ‘masculinity’ that has been associated with them. Their gaze, the way they walk, their stance, their gestures… all require a different body language and I think I have succeeded in doing that. Just like men play female characters with élan, I think women can easily enact these male characters too,” she says.
The difference, she says, is that women have a lot more roles to do justice to than the roles on stage. “I am quite a traditional homemaker now and have a lot of responsibilities to juggle even when I have to prepare for a play or go for a performance. My mind is filled with tasks to be completed. However, once the make-up starts and I am on stage, I am that character. Then there is nothing else on my mind. The minute I start removing the make-up, I begin multitasking,” she says.
Rajeevan shares her sentiments. He explains: “I am quite comfortable while enacting women on stage. In fact, we have been trained for that. There is a change in the way we move, look and enact the role. But, more than that, I believe the challenge is to understand the emotions and state of mind of the character I am essaying. As soon as I don the costume and the make-up, I start getting into the skin of the character. But once I leave the stage, there is no blurring of identities. I go back to being the same person I was before the play began.”
While Shruthi is happy with the way the film has shaped up, Parvathi hopes it will lead the way to discussions and dialogues on the female presence on Kathakali stages. “Films like Itharam should be discussed and followed up by introspection to understand how Kathakali stages can become more inclusive by giving more representation to women,” concludes Parvathi.
