(Dancers vied with one another to speak of Aiyyalu. Some excerpts are given below. More will follow next week.)
Roja Kannan commends DSA’s skill with outfits for folk dances. “He makes costume for my daughter too, that means two generations in a family. He stitched costumes for the dancers who performed at the ‘Semmozhi Mahanadu’ held in Coimbatore. A remarkable quality I have observed is his sense of equality – he treats all dancers at par, whether they are celebrities or otherwise. The same courtesy, attention and perfection.”
“Trust him, he will deliver,” says Revathy Ramachandran. Aiyyalu delivered the outfits at the hall when she staged ‘Daayini,’ a production involving 16 dancers. Everybody was anxious but I was not flustered. I knew he wouldn’t let us down.”
Srekala Bharath finds Aiyyalu a great asset. “It is a pleasure working with him. Quiet and soft spoken he describes my chatter ‘a torrential downpour.’ My costumes attract special mention in media reviews, thanks to Aiyyalu, the trendsetter. And it is amazing how he can identify a particular costume among mountains of material.
Urmila Sathyanaryanan still marvels at the way Aiyyalu converted the veldhari (horizontal lines) fabric she had given him into a stunning outfit of vertical and horizontal combination. “While others use machines to stitch hooks, make eyelets and do hemming, DSA uses his hands. He is the dressmaker for my daughter too, right from her birth,” she says.
Anitha Guha calls him a pioneer. “I had heard about him 30 years ago while I was in Secunderabad. My disciples would come all the way to Chennai to get their costume stitched for arangetram. So perfect would be the fit that the dancer would look like a statue on the stage. Of course the tradition continues after I settled down at Chennai in 1990.”
“My Guru Thanjavur Kittappa Pillai used to speak highly of DSA,” recalls Narthaki Nataraj. Vyjayanthimala, Hemamalini and other celebrities were his clients, he said. So, I went to his shop, dressed in style, wearing dark glasses et al . The first thing Aiyyalu aked me was why I was wearing dark glasses when I had gone there to give measurement. Ever since he has been pulling my leg.”
In a more serious tone, the dancer says, “He is a tapasvi. Each time I go to collect my dress I fall at his feet. The title ‘Vasthra Kala Nipuna’ would suit him very well. In the 1980s he stitched three fans, double fan, pant pyjama and sun pleats. I was presenting ‘Shakthi Darisanam’ and in the araimandi, the pleat opened up beautifully to give the Parasakti effect, something many noticed and appreciated. He differentiates the gypsy and the Kuravanji kurathi. He knows exactly what material will suit the character the dancer is playing and will gently express his opinion without being offensive.
“Once I gave him a sari to be converted into costume but wanted it restored later. So I went back to him after the performance. He simply pulled a thread and presto, there was my sari with all the folds in the right place! Such genius!
“For Radhe’s dress he asked me to bring the bits of various materials he had made for me over the years. He remembered the colours and the designs. Unbelieavable.”
