Documentation of Kottayam Plays
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The release of the DVD edition of Kottayam Plays comes as a bonanza for students and lovers of Kathakali.
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WHEN THE Kathakali celebrity Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair released the international DVD edition of Kottayam Plays in Thrissur recently, it was a milestone in the history of the four-century-old dance-drama. The DVD marked the consummation of the persistent efforts of Vedika, a Thrissur-based organisation relentlessly working for the popularisation of Kathakali over the past three years.
Vedika, founded by a few Kathakali-crazy youngsters, had hogged much media attention when it had presented a four-day Kathakali extravaganza titled `Arangum Kalariyum' in September 2002.
Cooperation of artistes
While `cholliyattams' of a few select padams in Kottayam Plays, which were staged for the benefit of the public, proved to be highly didactic, video documentation of `Bakavadham,' `Kirmiravadham,' `Kalakeyavadham' and `Kalyanasougandhikam' (the Kottayam Plays) was accomplished with the best artistes in the lead roles. Kalamandalam Gopi himself volunteered to don the role of Arjuna in `Kalakeyavadham,' Dharmaputra in `Kirmiravadham' and Bhima in `Bakavadham' and `Kalyanasougandhikam.' While Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair turned up for his classic role of Hanuman in `Kalyanasougandhikam,' Kottakkal Sivaraman portrayed Simhika (Lalitha) in `Kirmiravadham' and Nelliyode Vasudevan Namboodiri, Baka in `Bakavadham.' Accompanying artistes included Madampi Subramanian Namboodiri, Kottakkal Narayanan and Kottakkal Madhu (vocal) and Kalamandalam Unnikrishnan and Kottakkal Ravi (percussion).
The product of the festival was the Malayalam version, `Kathakali: Kottayam Plays' in VCD that had received an overwhelming response from Kathakali fans. This motivated the organisation to go for the DVD format, which was brought out in two categories in conformity with regional specification coding.
Ingenious technique
What makes the documentation praiseworthy is the ingenious technique employed to make the whole play intelligible to the common man. Each play begins with a narration that explains its context in the Mahabharata on which the Kottayam Plays are based, a gist of the story and its relative importance in the Kathakali tradition. The scrolling text at the beginning of each scene introduces the narrative context and also the highlights of the performance. The sub-titles cover a wide spectrum, including the translation of the slokas, the literary play-text and the improvised gestural-text of the actors. Moreover, the major features and conventions of performance are indicated through comments in parenthesis.
The 16-hour documentation goes with a booklet that by itself is an all-embracing study of Kathakali, with special reference to Kottayam Plays. A well-researched product of a team led by M.V. Narayanan, the booklet is a potential tool for anyone interested in pursuing the study of the dance-drama seriously.
A host of dignitaries including artist Namboodiri, Kalamandalam Gopi and Kottakkal Sivaraman and a large group of aficionados from across Kerala turned up to witness the memorable occasion. The function also witnessed a rare event: All the artistes and helpers who had participated in the documentation were honoured with certificates and dividends of the sales of the VCDs.
Vedika plans to utilise the proceeds from the documentations for the promotion of Kathakali and Kathakali artistes. Two artistes who had graduated from Kalamandalam have been selected for advanced study under the maestro Kalamandalam Padmanabhan Nair.
G.S. PAUL
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