Dedicated to Kuchipudi
AMBILI RAMNATH
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Anupama Mohan reminisces about the milestones in her life as a dancer.
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Photo: S. Mahinsha
Classical steps: Anupama Mohan has over a 1,000 stage performances to her credit.
Anupama Mohan searches the far recess of her memory to find a reason for her identity as a Kuchipudi dancer. And all she sees is herself dancing since the time she was around three years of age.
Hailing from an orthodox family in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, with not even the remotest connection to a dancing tradition, Anupama thinks that her parents perhaps saw ‘something’ in her that made them dedicate their daughter to dance. Or maybe, as her mother used to joke: “The reason for your being a dancer is that I watched the movie ‘Jhanak jhanak payal baaje’ on the day before you were born!”
In Thiruvananthapuram, recently, to conduct a workshop on Kuchipudi (dedicated to her guru Vempatti Chinna Satyam) under the banner of her ‘Sathyaanjali Academy,’ Anupama took a trip down memory lane.
Her foray into Kuchipudi
Little Anupama went on a shopping spree to Chennai with her parents to pick the best of dance costumes and jewellery. Vempatti Pedha Satyam (older brother of her guru) who gave them expert advice on the purchases also noticed the talent of the young girl and directed her to his brother. Anupama danced before him and he had no doubts about taking her under his wings, calling her ‘Anu ma.’
Life as a student
Once the decision was taken, her father, Venkaiah Naidu, made arrangements for Anupama to move into a cottage on the campus of the guru’s Kuchipudi Art Academy in Chennai, along with her mother, sisters and servants.
For the 14 years that she spent there, Anupama’s world revolved around her guru and the gurukulam. Rigorous classes, practice, choreography sessions by the guru who composed for her and another student and performances in India and abroad were the order of the day. By the time she was 12, Anupama started teaching Kuchipudi.
One of her earliest students was actor Hema Malini and Anupama reminisces that she was sent to sets of ‘Sholay,’ so that Hema could have her Kuchipudi lessons unhindered. As one of the lead artistes in the troupe, Anupama has over a 1,000 stage performances to her credit with greats such as Shobha Naidu, Manju Bhargavi and Hema Malini, to name a few.
Actor and choreographer
Anupama’s stint as an actor, though brief and unplanned, saw her marriage to Malayalam movie director Mohan. Anupama however has continued to dance, choreograph and put up performances with her students. She does not miss acting, but would love to choreograph and direct a pure Kuchipudi number for a movie.
She remembers choreographing ‘Kannappa Charitham,’ at Chidambaram on the spur of the moment when asked by organisers to include a piece on Lord Shiva. Sans lyrics or music, with just the ‘pakka melam’ to support her and using nritya and abhinaya, Aunpama portrayed the deep devotion of the tribal Kannappa to Lord Shiva of Sreekalahasti. Vedanta Satyanarayana Sharma, a doyen of dance, watched this piece and was moved to tears.
Kerala Kuchipudi and Sathyaanjali
Since 2000, Anupama has been living in Ernakulam and has had the chance to closely observe the dance scenario there.
She is aghast at undue identification with ‘the pot and the plate’ and passive acceptance of what is termed ‘Kerala Kuchipudi.’ “Kuchipudi is just Kuchipudi. How could there be different ones?” she asks.
While most students and teachers claim to have been disciples of Guru Vempatti Chinna Satyam, she laments that no one has taken the pains to keep alive the tradition of the art form that the maestro has revived, refined and defined. Her institute Sathyaanjali, set up with this aim is a tribute to her guru.
The workshops that she regularly conducts all over the State attempts to create awareness of Kuchipudi dance, the nuances and theory as well.
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