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In step with a legacy

Picture perfect: The maestro Adoor Gopalakrishnan

‘Dance of the Enchantress,’ a documentary on Mohiniyattom, is a master filmmaker’s tribute to the dance form of Kerala. The 72-minute film, which was screened in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, is also French danseuse Brigitte Chataignier’s homage to a dance form that enchanted her when she arrived in Kerala in 1987.

The film was screened in Locarno on August 4 and 5 along with Adoor’s ‘Mukhamukham.’ Critics eulogised ‘Dance of the Enchantress’ as a superb introduction to the art form, its training, the costumes and the music.

Shot in picturesque locales in Kerala, the documentary shows how Mohiniyattom is an intrinsic part of Kerala’s culture and tradition; an expression of the land and her people. Performances in Thiruvattar Temple, Padmanabhapuram Palace, Kuthiramalika, Bhajanapuram Kottaram, Kalamandalam and an ancient ‘mana’ showcase Mohiniyattom in the places that nurtured this dance form.

“It is a dance form that is rooted in our soil. There are so many dances in India. But it is only in Kerala that we have Mohiniyattom. So, we have adopted a format that lets the viewer experience the dance form in its true surroundings. There is a structure but the narrative does not restrict it to the feel of a documentary,” says Adoor.

Smita Rajan in the dance hall of Padmanabhapuram Palace

“Brigette gave me the passages and I chose the ones used in the film. Excellent dancers extol the finer points of the art form and the intrinsic beauty of the lyrics and the dance,” adds the filmmaker.

Students training in Kalamandalam and evocative performances throw light on Mohiniyattom. The deep relationship between a guru and her disciple is also woven into the film. Tracing the genesis of the film, Adoor explains: “Brigitte, a good performer herself, approached me seven or eight years back. I was impressed by her dedication and passion to the art form. I agreed to write the script of the film while she organised the finance. Helen Coer of the French production house ‘Ideal Audience’ agreed to fund the film. However, although she backed out later, she put us in touch with the National Centre for Cinema, which gave us a grant. The major funding was by a production house called La Vie est belle.”

“The innate lasya in Mohiniyattom is enhanced by lyrical music and the entire art form resonates with love, longing and the pangs of separation. Even devotion to god is suffused with love,” says Adoor and he recites a few lines from the Swati padam ‘Ali veni yentu cheyvu.’

Kalamandalam Satyabhama, Neena Prasad, Pallavi Krishnan, Sreedevi Rajan, Kalamandalam Kshemavathy, Smitha Rajan and Kalamandalam Leelamma also appear in the film. 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.

World premier of ‘Naalu Pennungal’

The world premier of Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s ‘Naalu Pennungal’ will be at the Toronto film festival where it will be screened in the prestigious Masters section on September 10, 12 and 14. “Although ‘Dance of the Enchantr ess’ was screened in Locarno, I did not go there as I wanted to complete the work on this film that is based on four stories by Thakazhy Sivashankara Pillai,” says auteur filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

After Toronto, the film will travel to the London festival in October. Audiences in Kerala will also see it in October.

‘Naalu Pennungal’ narrates the story of four women from different economic strata; a sex worker, a peasant, a middle class homemaker and a woman from an affluent family. Nandita Das, Padmapriya, Manju Pillai and Geethu Mohandas play the key characters in the film. Kavya Madhavan, who plays Nandita’s sister, has an important role in the film.

Doordarshan had approached Adoor to make a 10-part programme on any of Thakazhy’s stories. Eventually, it evolved in to a story of four women. This is Adoor’s third film that is an adaptation of a literary work. ‘Mathilukal’ and ‘Vidheyan’ were based on Basheer’s and Paul Zacharia’s works respectively. Produced by Benzy Martin, this is the first feature film that does not have Adoor’s favourite cameraman Mankada Ravi Varma behind the camera. The cinematographer is M.J. Radhakrishnan.

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