A modern actor
DIWAN SINGH BAJELI
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A conversation with stage actor Krishnan Kaladharan Nair.
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PHOTO: S. GOPAKUMAR
STRADDLING TWO WORLDS: Krishnan Kaladharan Nair in `Durabhangam'.
He joined amateur theatre in Malayalam in the 1960s after basic training in traditional theatrical forms and Kalaripayyattu. After working as an amateur artiste for a decade, a chance meeting with Kavalam Narayana Panikkar deepened his artistic vision, heralding a new chapter in his career as an accomplished actor of traditional and classical Sanskrit theatre. The vigorous training and deep study of the Natya Shastra equipped Krishnan Kaladharan Nair to portray a number of challenging and complex characters, both classical and contemporary, with depth, sincerity and energetic grace which won him rave reviews and acclaim from discerning theatre-goers not only in India but also abroad.
A versatile actor who never stops learning, Kaladharan Nair recently received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 2006 for his contribution to Indian theatre as an actor.
A commerce graduate, Kaladharan was born in 1950 in Neyyantinkara. He joined Sopana Repertory in Thiruvananthapuram in 1975 and played leading roles in Sanskrit and Malayalam plays under the direction of Panikkar.
Milestones
These productions included Bhasa's `Madhyama Vyayogam' (1979) and `Karanabharam' (1984) and Kalidasa's `Shakuntalam' (1980). These theatrical works have become milestones in the history of modern Indian theatre.
"As a director, playwright and scholar of Sanskrit and Malayalam dramas and theatre, Panikkar has greatly influenced me. I have yet to come across a theatre artiste of his calibre," says Kaladharan with a sense of pride.
`Karanabharam.'
"I played the role of Karana in Bhasa's `Karanabharam' staged by Sopana as far back as 1984. Karana is a great tragic hero. The kind of intense agony he experiences, the dilemma he confronts and the immense physical and mental prowess he is endowed with have left an indelible impression on me. So I decided to portray this multi-dimensional, multi-layered character through a solo performance."
Founder of Rasika Arts and Cultural Society in Thiruvananthapuram in 1986, he is also a director and a playwright. "But I am basically an actor; I enjoy portraying characters in full view of the audience. To establish a rapport with spectators and be identified by them has its own rewards and creative excitement. A playwright works away from the audience all alone in his study room, a director mostly interacts with his actors."
It was in the 1990s, when members of Footbarn Theatre from France came to India to conduct a theatrical workshop. "Out of several participants from different South Indian states, the organisers selected me to work in France. I stayed there for two years enacting the lead of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey which travelled all over France, England, Ireland, Colombia, Spain and India in the mid-1990s. This was a great experience as an actor for me. In fact, Footbarn Theatre is an actor's theatre; there is no director. I had the liberty to use three languages - French, Malayalam and English."
Sanskrit theatre
What is the state of Sanskrit theatre in India? "There is hardly any Sanskrit theatre in India. In Kerala we are doing Sanskrit plays with elements of Koodiyattom and Kathakali, folk and ritual arts like Theyyam, Padayani and Ottanthullal and Kalarippayattu, the martial art of Kerala. These elements are expressed through body language, interpreting a classic in modernist idiom for today's audience. If you call it Sanskrit theatre, it is only being practised in Kerala."
He interprets mythical characters to reflect the dilemma of modern man.
Though trained in the traditional and classical theatre, Kaladharan is a modern actor. "I try to interpret my characters to reflect the dilemma of modern man."
He has just completed the production of `Durabhangam' which projects vanquished Duryodhana as a protagonist who pleads for peace, highlighting the destructive character of war.
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