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Narayanan’s singing is more laden with bhrigas than gamakas.

sticking to tradition: Kottakal Narayanan.

“He is yet to blossom into a full-fledged singer. But a day will come when his voice and presence will receive due attention in Kathakali circles,” predicted Nambeesan in the early 1980’s. Nambeesan passed away soon afterwards. But his words proved to be prophetic since Narayanan evolved into a vocalist who is committed to the visual grammar of Kathakali.

Narayanan does not have a musical lineage worth mentioning. Yet he was fortunate to gain admission to P.S.V. Natyasanghom, Kottakkal, in 1976. For 10 years, he was under the wings of great gurus such as Vasu Nedungadi, Parameswaran Namboodiri, Gopala Pisharodi, Unnikrishna Kurup and Neelakandan Nambeesan.

Already trained in the fundamentals of Carnatic music, Narayanan could easily imbibe the texture of singing that was specific to each of his gurus. He could understand the conservative bani of Nedungadi and the radicalism of Unnikrishna Kurup while assimilating the complex raga-treatments of Nambeesan along with his leadership qualities on stage.

There is no dearth of gifted vocalists in Kathakali. What many of them lack is an enduring commitment to the actors whom they represent in terms of the vachikabhinaya (verbal acting). Narayanan’s distinction lies in his understanding of and respect towards the visual implications of each of the padams.

He is in complete command of ragas, talas and tempos. Never once does he overlook the actors through repetition of lines uncalled for or with lengthy raga delineations. He has successfully retained the precarious balance between sahitya and sangeeta, key to any form of classical dance and theatre. His rendering of ‘Kalakeyavadhom,’ ‘Kalyanasaugandhikam,’ ‘Bakavadhom’ and ‘Kirmeeravadhom’ bespeaks the solid structure of classicism in Kathakali music.

Amidst the high sounding percussion-ensemble, it is not easy for a vocalist to be heard. The adage ‘occhakkaran mechhakkaran’ (the louder the better) still holds good for the Kathakali vocalist as he does not have a lot of space for crooning while singing the text of plays that are considered the pillars of Kathakali.

Narayanan is fully conscious of such limitations as evident from his rendering of the padams ‘Baale! kel ni!, Panchalaraajathanaye!, Baale varika!, Salajjoham, Kanjadalalochane!’ so on and so forth.

Like Nambeesan, Narayanan’s singing is more laden with bhrigas than gamakas.

The khanaragas such as Sankarabharanam, Bhairavi and Kalyani are more suited to the singing style of Narayanan than ragas such as Reethigaula, Revathi or Sivaranjini. He applies bhrigas in such a way that the syntax in each padam appropriately brings out the sahitya, thus enabling the actors to spontaneously revel in dancing and acting.

Many celebrated artistes of the day, including Ramankutty Nair and Kalamandalam Gopi say they feel comfortable when Narayanan wields the gong on stage as the principal vocalist.

While singing popular plays such as ‘Nalacharitam,’ ‘Uttaraswayamvaram’ and ‘Keechakavadhom,’ he scarcely moves on to the melody format of film songs or light music. His disinclination to alter the ragas and the tempos is born out of strong determination and vision.

Narayanan does not believe in reaching out to the rasikas by means of any popular techniques. He, instead, politely compels them to review their musical sensibility in relation to the highly evolved traditional dance-drama of Kerala. This sets him apart from his more gifted or competent colleagues in an age in which every form of music has become vulnerable to unethical influences.

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