Date:04/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/04/stories/2007040424420400.htm

Kerala

Greatest teacher of Kerala's own art form

K. Santhosh

Padmanabhan Nair's `cholliyattakkalari' was the last word in Kathakali aesthetics

Thrissur: The world of Kathakali has lost one of its greatest teachers and theoreticians in the death of Kalamandalam Padmanabhan Nair.

Just as political parties need ideologues to uphold their ideologies, every classical art form needs specialists in aesthetics to preserve its purity and tradition.

This is especially important for art forms such as Kathakali in which techniques and theories are handed down from generation to generation, through curious rites of passage in the `gurukula' system.

Academic structuring

Academic structuring of Kathakali has been a recent development.

If the art form taught as an academic discipline in institutions such as Kerala Kalamandalam pays respect to pristine aesthetics and indigenous cultural practices, the credit goes to teachers such as Kalamandalam Padmanabhan Nair and Ramankutty Nair.

Padmanabhan Nair knew the age-old aesthetic of Kathakali like the back of his hand.

He picked it up from the most authentic source - his father Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon, architect of modern Kathakali.

Padmanabhan Nair's `cholliyattakkalari' (training workshop) was the last word in Kathakali aesthetics. Much of the beauty of contemporary Kathakali had sprung from this school.

Like a hermit guiding his disciples through a maze of worldly distractions, Nair educated them about the pitfalls of diluting the Kathakali aesthetic.

The greatest performer to emerge from this school has been Kalamandalam Gopi.

"He made me what I am. Rigorous training for six years under the maestro moulded my career. When I erred once in class, he grew impatient and threw a baton at me. Contrite, he took me out for dinner. He was a strict, but affectionate, teacher," Gopi remembers.

Important contribution

Padmanabhan Nair's most important contribution to Kathakali was his book, `Cholliyattom,' a comprehensive performance manual, published by Kalamandalam.

His masterpiece role was the Brahmin in `Santhanagopalam' and `Rukminiswayamvaram.'

His Kathi roles were purely textual. For a while, he had also donned Thadi roles.

Padmanabhan Nair was born at Kuruvatoor in Valluvanad.

He was trained at Vellinezhi, Kerala Kalamandalam and P.S.V. Natyasanghom, Kottakal.

He won the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 1993, Kendra Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 1994 and the State Kathakali Award in 2006.

Open to ideas

Traditionalist he was, but always open to new ideas.

He enthusiastically responded to the demand from Shakespeare's Globe in the U.K. to choreograph and present `King Lear' in Kathakali style.

Nair himself played Lear in the play directed by Annette Leday and David McRuvie. Lear, with headgear, looked majestic, with his daughters Cordelia, Goneril and Regan.

"It was poetry in motion, unfolding before a spellbound audience," a critic wrote.

As the maestro exits, the grief-stricken Kathakali lover remembers verses from `King Lear': "As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport."