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The valorous thespian

Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

Glorious innings: Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair dons the colours of his character in a green room.

In traditional temple festivals, the night that Kathakali is staged is systemised in such a way that the pratinayakas (anti-heroes) make their majestic entry on stage around or past midnight.

In the history of Kathakali, there have not been many actors who could wake up the spectators at midnight and transport them into aesthetic ecstasy till the wee hours of the morning.

Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair was fully conscious of the challenges when he, prompted by his guru and colleagues, opted for the villainous roles in Kathakali. For over half a century, Ravana, Narakasura, Duryodhana, Keechaka, Sisupala and other anti-heroes got etched in the minds of art lovers through the stylistics of Ramankutty Nair. The maestro celebrated his satabhishekam (84th birthday) on May 14.

Those born and brought up in the Vellinezhi village of western Palakkad are inextricably wedded to Kathakali thanks to the cultural hegemony the Olappamanna Mana once enjoyed. It was, therefore, natural that Thenginthottathil Ramankutty was drawn to the art form even as a child. His insistence on learning Kathakali forced his mother to take him to the taskmaster of the Kalluvazhichitta, Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon. The guru, who was teaching then at the Mana, looked at the boy and commented: “His sthayi is hasya.” The farsightedness of Menon is evident from the fact that Ramankutty grew into Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair, identified by the audience with the villainous characters bearing veera (valour) and sthayi (enduring) often illuminated by hasya (humour).

At Kalamandalam where Ramankutty continued his training under Pattikkamthodi in the late 1930’s, Vallathol noticed the discipline of the youngster’s angika abhinaya. Ramankutty Nair’s small yet stout frame was perfectly suited to the representations of the kathi and vellathaadi characters. His Ravanas, Duryodhanas, Keechaka, Hanumans and the like fascinated Kathakali fans everywhere. Even a lightweight character like the hunter in ‘Nalacharitam Part II’ or in ‘Kiratham’ gets an aesthetic lift when Ramankutty Nair does it with innate humour and sarcasm. Clarity and composure in the execution of the hand gestures complemented by the temperate movements of the torso and the limbs proclaim the power and prestige of these characters. Ramankutty Nair seldom superimposes his command over rhythm and tempos on the characters he dons. Instead, those two components of dance flow spontaneously, amalgamating with the moods of the character concerned. In ‘Ravanodbhavam’ Ravana recollects his past. In a dramatic soliloquy, he asks. “Did I beg before Lord Brahma for boons? Oh! No. I got the boons by means of my gallantry.”

Here the execution of the hand gesture and the accompanying leaps of Ravana for the word, gallantry, proclaim the profundity of Ramankutty Nair’s angikaabhinaya. Like Veera, his sringara rasa too carry a bewitching self-esteem. Ramankutty Nair’s enactment of the highly structured roles of Dharmaputra in ‘Kirmeeravadhom’ or Arjuna in ‘Kalakeyavadhom’ is in a class of its own. Though he lacks the flamboyance of star performers like Krishnan Nair and Gopi in the Pacha (noble heroes) roles, Ramankutty Nair is admirably hostile to melodrama and sensationalism. As Hanuman in ‘Thoranayudhom’ and ‘Lavanasuravadhom,’ his presentations were exquisite primarily because Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduwal and Appukkutty Poduwal provided him emotive and evocative support through the chenda and the maddalam. Passionate connoisseurs like the Vedic scholar, K.P.C. Narayanan Bhattatirippad has hailed Ramankutty Nair as the embodiment of thauryathrikam (confluence of dance, drama and music).

If one goes through the pages of art history, one can come across myriad incidents in which Ramankutty Nair became the epicentre of controversies. His Parasurama was a rage throughout Kerala in the Sixties. Bit several critics termed it a physical exercise in futility. They unanimously held that Ramankutty Nair is incapable of satwikabhinaya expressed mainly through the upangas of the face. He replied not vocally but through his performances of different roles that underscored angikaabhinaya as the principal mode of acting in Kathakali.

The ‘total effect’ he carved out of his characterisations, argued aesthetes like Kummini Vasudevan Namboodiri, is equally or even more significant than the fragmented satwikaabhinaya of a few of his contemporaries. The controversies subsided as years passed by.

Ramankutty Nair established his sway in all those venues where he was susceptible to attack before. It is true that Ramankutty Nair’s idiom is repetitive and his off-hand manodharmams slightly raw at times. Always predictable are his movements, behaviour and expressions on and off the stage.

Yet there is something magical in his portrayals of epic roles. Ramankutty Nair has certain traits in common with the character Ravana, which he has enacted on hundreds of stages. The success of both is the resultant of a prolonged and stressful penance. ‘Ekanennaalum porum’ (Although alone, I am enough) is a slogan Ramankutty Nair has copied from the life of Ravana from ‘Udbhavam.’

Perseverance, steadfastness, pride, confidence and buoyancy are the hallmarks of his personality. From that of a tutor at the Kalamandalam, he retired as its principal in 1985.

Awards and accolades have been heaped on him – the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Ratna Award, the highest honour from the Akademi itself, awards and fellowships from all the State Academies, Kalidasa Samman and the Padmabhooshan are some of the feathers on his royal crown.

With the passing away of his companions and rivals one after the other, Ramankutty Nair remains a lonely tower. To a question whether he has anything more to be attained in life, he smiled briefly before a crisp reply. “Nothing at all. I am content. No more aspirations in life.”

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