The Hindu : Kerala News : When they held the audience in thrall

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Friday, May 20, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

When they held the audience in thrall

K. Santhosh

It was a brilliant display of acting talent and musical dexterity when a family got together to present the Kathakali play `Kuchelavritham'

MEERA AND MUM: Meera Murali (left) and her mother V. R. Sathyabhama enact the Kathakali play `Kuchelavritham'

THRISSUR: Mother and daughter were the actors, father and son the musicians.

The Pazhayanadakkavu Pandi Samooha Matom Sree Dharma Sastha temple here witnessed an interesting show last night — members of a family performed the Kathakali play, `Kuchelavritham.'

V.R. Sathyabhama played Rugmini and her daughter Meera Murali, a Class X student of St. Mary's CGHSS, Kochi, donned the role of Lord Krishna.

Satyabhama's husband, Kalavedi Murali, was the percussionist. And their son Midhun Murali, an LKG student, played the `chenda' prior to the staging of Kathakali.

"My mother is a stickler for accuracy. If I make a wrong move, she would look daggers at me,'' Ms. Meera says. "Being mother and daughter, we are quite at ease when we share the platform'', she says.

Ms. Meera had won `Kalathilakam' title in last year's Ernakulam Sub-District Youth Festival, displaying her skills in 10 disciplines that included Kathakali, Ottanthullal, Bharathanatyam and chenda-playing.

"I want to be a professional dancer,'' she says.

Ms. Sathyabhama, an exponent of Mohiniyattom and Bharathanatyam, hails from Angamaly and is a disciple of Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma and Sumathy. She studied Kathakali from Kalamandalam Sankaranarayanan.

She used to perform with the Thripunithura Vanitha Kala Kendram and has played roles as varied as Sathi, Damayanti, Kunti, Malayathi and Kattala Stree.

Mr. Murali, a disciple of Ayamkudi Kuttappa Marar, Kottakkal Kuttan Marar and Kalanilayam Muraleedharan, hails from Perumbavoor. He moved to Thripunithura 25 years ago.

Midhun is a self-taught `chenda' player. The audience marvelled at the kindergarten student's talent.

"He is all ears when I teach my students. His knowledge of `tala' is incredible. We thought of giving him a small `chenda' for playing last night, but he insisted on having a larger one,'' Mr. Murali says. The child prodigy stole the show.

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