Accent on perfection
V. KALADHARAN
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Kalamandalam Gangadharan is the first Kathakali vocalist to be chosen for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
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EVOCATIVE VERSES: Kalamandalam Gangadharan's knowledge of slokams, padams and dandakams endeared him to the masses.
Way back in the Fifties, a boy from Kottarakkara travelled from his village to join Kerala Kalamandalam. Kathakali music was his first and last choice. The gurus were surprised and amused by the confidence of the youngster. He later came to be known as Kalamandalam Gangadharan, a top-ranking Kathakali vocalist.
This septuagenarian artist is the first vocalist to be chosen for the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award this year. There is tremendous awe and respect when Gangadharan remembers his guru Sivaraman Nair.
"Sivaraman Nair Asan was a lesser known vocalist in those days. But his devotion to teaching and his affection towards the students knew no bounds. Had I not attended his classes, I would not have mastered the nuances of pronunciations and tempo transitions. While Nambeesan Asan taught us the aesthetics of singing, it was Sivaraman Nair Asan who invested a lot of energy to strengthen our foundation."
Since Gangadharan had taken some basic lessons in Carnatic music before joining Kalamandalam, learning the raga renditions in Kathakali music was easy for him.
Soon after completion of training, Gangadharan was absorbed by his alma mater as a junior instructor in Kathakali music. Kalamandalam Neelakandan Nambeesan was then popular among the sahridayas and Gangadharan got the opportunity to sing along with his guru during Kathakali performances.
He soon drew the attention of the masses and was soon hailed as a leading singer. His command on the stage, his knowledge of slokams, padams and dandakams made him a popular figure.
Stylistic merits
Gangadharan's tenor and accent are inimitable. On the one hand he adheres to the tenets of classicism in Kathakali music inextricably linked to the visual dynamics of the Kottayam plays and the like. On the other hand, he enjoys navigating the unexplored realms of both familiar and unfamiliar ragas in the popular Kathakali plays such as `Nalacharitam,' `Baalivadhom' and `Karnasapadham.'
Gangadharan proves through his performances that tradition is never a stagnant stream and that it is flexible enough to embrace creative phrases and expressions. In `Baalivadhom,' there is a heart rending padam of Thara. The padam, `Naadha! Nayaka!' in the non-traditional raga Simhendramadhyamam is one of Gangadharan's masterpieces. His revised renditions of padams in `Nalacharitam,' `Avaleethoru kaamini' and `Swairavachanam' in ragas Vrindavanasarangam and Aahirbhairavi respectively are engrossing. All the key padams he rendered in the khanaragas like Bhairavi, Kalyani, Sankarabharanam and Thodi remain imperishable treasures of Kathakali music.
Gangadharan is more sensitive to the bhava element than the many layered patterns of laya in the framework of Kathakali music. In the last quarter century, Kathakali music has undergone sweeping changes mainly in its applications on stage. Gangadharan does not subscribe to those reformations. He turns slightly philosophical in his reactions to the new trends in Kathakali music. "Time will decide whether such drastic alterations would contribute to or become detrimental to the visual intensity of Kathakali. Value-judgment seems irrelevant."
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