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She's back on stage
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For Gopika Varma, Mohiniattam is more than just a dance form. She talks about its divinity and her second coming in a tête-à-tête with M. ALLIRAJAN
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A LONG break is something any artiste dreads. And when it comes at the prime of one's career, it hurts. For Gopika Varma, the renowned Mohiniattam dancer, it happened when she was popular and was all set to make it big. Forced to stay away from dance due to health problems, she had to wait for ten long years to wear the salangai again.
Second coming
"It is like a second birth. I feel like I'm three years old," she says in elation. She was recently in town to perform at Natyanjali and a programme organised by the Crafts Council of Tamil Nadu. One cannot miss the expressive eyes and the poise and elegance with which she makes her point through the conversation.
Clad in a kasavu mundu, she sat down for a freewheeling interview with Metroplus on her life and Mohiniattam at the artistically done up room of the Sakthi Sugars Corporate Office. Gopika, who learnt Mohiniattam from Kalyani Kuttamma and Kavalam Narayana Panicker, says that the decade she spent not dancing "was probably the worst time" in her life.
"I lost out on so many things. My husband (Prince Marthanda Varma of Travancore) was a great source of support then," she recalls. "I was a little worried. I wondered whether I should come back at all. It took some time for me to make everyone understand that I wanted to dance. Even after I decided to perform again, I thought I would discontinue if the response was bad. Luckily, my second innings as a dancer was a success," she says, smiling.
>Dance and divinity
The conversation soon changes track and after hearing her, you understand why she is so passionate about dance. "Dance is probably the only complete art form. It is a divine experience," she asserts. "A dancer should have a good knowledge of literature. Above all, you must know how to manage things. You cannot dance superficially. You have to conceive of everything properly. And your body language has to be perfect. Only then will you be able to convey the message to the audience," she observes.
Ask her about Mohiniattam and her face lights up. "It is very difficult to master it. There are a lot of disadvantages. It is not as colourful as other dance forms. Also there is no speed in your dance movements. The make-up is not very heavy and your face has to convey all the expressions."
And that's precisely the reason why she found it difficult to popularise this dance form. "I perform regularly in Melattur, Thanjavur. People sit engrossed in the thinnai and watch. The kids are keen to learn, but when I tell them that I am a Mohiniattam dancer they think that I am enacting the role of a ghost (Mohinipisasu)," she laughs.
To make it simpler for such audiences, Gopika chooses episodes from well-known epics for her performance. I either present a shringara piece or a thalattu in Mohiniattam for this audience. The sequences are based on Gajendra moksham, Devaki's pulambal and Silappadhigaram episodes. The audience response is very important.
You have to give them what they want," she avers.
Did her royal lineage and the role played by the family in the revival of Mohiniattam help her as a dancer? "It has both advantages and disadvantages. As I am married into THE family, I am always noticed. But, I am able to balance everything."
Gopika who runs Dasyam, a dance school in Chennai, is enthused by the revival of interest in Mohiniattam. "A lot of people are coming forward to learn Mohiniattam in Chennai. Slowly, it is gaining acceptance." However, she is equally keen on reaching out to people in small towns and villages. "I perform in temples.
Even if there are ten people at the programme, it is enough. I feel satisfied as an artiste," she says.
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