Masters' week
VINU VASUDEVAN
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`Kerala Natyotsavam,' organised by Drisyavedi, focussed on three famous plays by Irayimman Thampi.
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CLASS APART: Kottakkal Chandrasekhara Warrier as Brihannala,left, in Utharaswayamvaram.'
`Kerala Natyotsavam,' a week-long programme of Irayimman Thampi's attakkathas, was organised in the capital city by Drisyavedi. Kathakali aficionados got a golden opportunity to enjoy and evaluate the skill of new artistes and also watch masterly performances by maestros.
Hundreds of artistes participated in the festival, which was inaugurated by filmmaker and Kathakali connoisseur Adoor Gopalakrishnan. Three of Thampi's famous attakkathas - `Keechakavadham,' `Utharaswayamvaram' and `Dakshayagam' were staged in six parts.
Emphasis on text
What was unique about the festival was the attention given to the text of the plays. Instead of staging only certain sequences from the play, some rare portions were also performed. A good example of the emphasis on the text was the staging of the third part of `Utharaswayavaram,' which is usually skipped during most performances. Similarly, in `Keechakavadham,' the first part, which narrates the Pandavas' arrival at the palace of King Virata, was staged after many years.
Both veterans and youngsters played their parts well to make the festival a memorable one. Kottakkal Chandrasekhara Warrier's superb portrayal of Brihannala in `Utharaswayamvaram' was one of the highlights of the festival. The veteran showed his class and experience in the scenes that called for `manodharma attams' with Utharan.
Nelliyode Vasudevan Nambuthiri, another veteran, shone as Thrigarthan in the same play. The main `kathi veshams' (negative characters) in the plays - Keechakan in `Keechakavadam' and Duryodhana in `Utharaswayamvaram' - were donned by Kalamandalam Krishnakumar and Injakkad Ramachandran Pillai. Krishakumar came up with a scintillating `attam' describing Keechaka's passion for Malini while Injakkad Ramachandran proved his mettle in the famous `Ekalochanam' attam.
Kalamandalam Rajasekharan and Margi Vijayakumar, who specialise in playing the heroines, enacted Sathi in `Dakhayagam' and Malini in `Keechakavadham' respectively. Haripriya Nambuthiri performed as Sudeshna in `Keechakavadham.'
Among the youngsters, Kalamandalam Ratheesan (Brihannala), SadanamBhasi (Valalan), Ettumanur Kannan (Dakshan) and Margi Balasubramanian (Virata and Dakshan) stood out for their magnificent acting.
The music department headed by maestro Kalanilayam Unnikrishnan and Kalamandalam Krishnankutty played an important role in the success of the festival.
Felicitation
Maddalam maestro Kalamandalam Sankara Warrier was felicitated on the concluding day of the festival by Nedumudi Venu. The function was followed by Warrier's thrilling `Melappadam.' Kalamandalam Krishnadas (chenda) and Kalamandalam Sasi (maddalam) supported Warrier.
Drisyavedi has been conducting this annual festival for almost two decades now. The significant feature of all the festivals was that each fete had a focus - on stories or characters.
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