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From Somerset, with devotion
K. K. GOPALAKRISHNAN
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David Bolland's deep interest in Kathakali and other art forms of Kerala led him to document these for posterity.
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CHRONICLER OF KATHAKALI: David Bolland
People in the English village of Brent Knoll in the county of Somerset, a two-and-a-half hour drive from London, are familiar with the word `Malabar.' It is the name of David Bolland's home. Bolland, who lived in India from 1946 to 1971, was, perhaps, the first to document Kathakali.
Recordings of Kathakali from the early 1950s to 1991 are remarkably well preserved in a specially built studio adjacent to his house. Bolland is perhaps the only person other than Govind Vidyarthi who has a film clipping of the legendary Guru Kunju Kurup (1881-1970), the only Kathakali artiste to win a Padma Bhushan. Govind Vidyarthi documented Kunju Kurup for the Sangeet Natak Akademi in the early Sixties.
"When I recorded the performance of Kunju Kurup, I never knew how important he was, otherwise I would have recorded the whole performance," said Bolland.
David Bolland first came to India in 1946 as an official of the British company, Peirce Leslie & Co Ltd, which was set up in India in 1862 (in 1962 he made a film on its activities called `Century in Malabar'). His assignments were in Kundara, (Kollam) from 1947 to 1949 and in Kozhikode from 1950 to 1967.
It was in Kozhikode that he was introduced to Kathakali, and his meeting with the late K.P.S. Menon nourished his interest. In 1968, he moved to Kochi with the task of turning the former British company into an Indian company (Peirce Leslie India Ltd.) and became its first managing director.
Tryst with Kathakali
By the time he returned to England, he had become a household name as far as Kathakali artistes and aficionados of art forms of Kerala were concerned. Before leaving India, Bolland made an endowment to Kerala Kalamandalam, to give a gold medal to the best student (passing out) in Kathakali vesham.
After his retirement, he came to India five times to document the art forms, his last visit being in 1993. "Sadly, I feel that I am now too old to travel overseas any more," says Bolland.
He adds, "I never get bored or feel lonely and if I have a touch of nostalgia for my happy days in India; all I have to do is to go to my studio and watch one of the 15 Kathakali plays that I have recorded in various places at various times."
He is the author of the well-known book `A Guide to Kathakali.' The book was first published by the National Book Trust of India in 1980, it is now in its third edition, published by Sterling Publishers.
Malabar Masque
The best known film he made about Kathakali is the `Masque of Malabar,' which he filmed at various places between 1964 and 1971, of which a shorter version `Malabar Masque' won 24 major awards when it was entered into amateur international film festivals in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and various countries in Europe, including the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
In addition to Kathakali, he has also remarkably documented Theyyam, Koodiyattom and various other Indian dance forms, and also the Mysore Dussera festival.
Bolland also documented many of the folk dances of India, which he recorded at the Darpana Academy, Ahmedabad in 1991 at the invitation of Mrinalini Sarabhai. In 1993, Maharao Brijraj Singh of Kota, in Rajasthan, invited Bolland to make a video on the history of the State and Kota.
Bolland is donating all his films to the video library of Rose Bruford College in Kent, London, "so that it will be well preserved for posterity".
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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