Dance of the enchantress
K. C. ASOK
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Adoor Gopalakrishnan's documentary on Mohiniyattom promises to be a treat for the layman and connoisseur alike.
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ALL EARS: Danseuse Pallavi Krishna carefully listens to Brigitte Chataignier and Adoor Gopalakrishnan, both seated, as she prepares for a shot.
The historic Kuthiramalika turned out to be an ideal venue for the filming of `The Dance of the Enchantress.'
Mohiniyattom exponent Pallavi Krishna enacted a few padams in its portico. At a nod from film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan, cameraman M.J. Radhakrishnan moved for a close-up shot of the dance sequences.
The director and French Mohiniyattom dancer, Brigitte Chataignier, were busy browsing through the scripts and giving instructions to those on the sets. After a few rehearsals and a few takes, the crew were ready for the shot... `The Dance of the Enchantress,' a documentary on Mohiniyattom, was in its final phase of shooting in Thiruvananthapuram recently.
The shooting, which began on September 20, concluded on October 3. It was a project that Brigitte and Adoor had planned in their mind for several years.
"We had many sittings and discussions to arrive at a final structure. It was just a matter of time... It speaks of the beauty of Mohiniyattom. The documentary would be an enriching experience even for someone who knows nothing about the art form," says Adoor.
Perhaps, the project would not have materialised but for the sincere efforts of Brigette, who now lives at Cheruthuruthy, near Thrissur. Brigitte, even as a girl of 16, was attracted towards Indian music, dance and yoga. Her affinity to Indian art forms brought her to India. For three years, from 1986, she became a student of Kerala Kalamandalam, learning Mohiniyattom under the tutelage of Kalamandalam Leelamma.
Creative collaboration
After that she worked with renowned artistes such as Kalamandalam Kshemavathy, Kalyani Kuttiyamma's daughter Sreedevi, Bharathi Shivaji and Nirmala Panicker to do research on Mohiniyattom and its varied styles.
Finance was the stumbling block that hampered her efforts to make a film on Mohiniyattom. It was then that Brigitte got in touch with La Vie est belle in France, a production company that agreed to produce the documentary. She succeeded in obtaining a small grant from National Centre for Cinema, an organisation in France.
The script for the documentary was co-written by Adoor and Brigitte. "However, we don't plan to give `voice overs' for the visuals," says Brigitte. The sound engineer Jerome Ayasse is also from France.
The team shuttled between locations such as Shoranur, Padmanabhapuram, Thiruvattar and Thiruvananthapuram. "It was Maharaja Swati Tirunal who revived Mohiniyattom and other art forms at a time when they were fading into oblivion. And coming down to later generations, the credit should go to Mahakavi Vallathol. Considering this aspect, we have chosen palaces and places where their memories still linger," says Adoor.
The documentary has lined up doyens and budding artistes for the film. They include Kalamandalam Satyabhama, Sreedevi Rajan, Kalamandalam Kshemavathy, Kalamandalam Leelamma, Smitha Rajan, and Neena Prasad, to name a few. Kavalam Sreekumar has sung the title song. The songs for the dances have been sung by Kalamandalam Jayaprakash, Kalamandalam Jagadeesh, and Madhavan Namboothiri to the accompaniment of traditional instruments like the mridangam, veena, flute, edakka and maddalam. The dance and songs have been recorded live.
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