KOCHI: Kalamandalam Sreekumar, who turned 60, knows quite well that it is a landmark year for him. Events are held in his honour and tributes galore, but the kathakali artiste - rated among the elites for his discipline and style - prefers to use the moment to look back at his own life. He at once realises the hardships he had to endure from his young days until carving out a career are still vivid in his mind. And with humility, he acknowledges the support, especially of his masters, to come thus far.
Sreekumar underlined his credentials with yet another commanding performance as Narakasuran in Narakasuravadham during Vrischikolsavam at Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple in Tripunithura last week. Further, he coordinated the kathakali events, which bring the best in the field during the week-long festival.
Being the former teacher at the RLV College of Music and Fine Arts gave him another chance to look closely at some of the promising youngsters out there. “The talent we’ve got in kathakali is amazing. It augurs well for the future, but I’m a bit sceptical about the attitude of some of them as they sometimes play to the galleries. I don’t think they need to be desperate to win applause.
It’ll come later. They only need to perform sincerely. They should prolong their careers. It’s not even 10 years since I started getting the recognition. Look at Gopi Asan [Kalamandalam Gopi]. The years of hard work he had put in during his youth has taken him to the position where he’s now,” said Sreekumar.
He is even more disgusted with another prevalent trend. “We’re talking a lot about the fan clubs in cinema. What we see in kathakali is even more dangerous. Some actors have built their own groups of fans, they inform and assemble them and perform for them. These fans leave the venue once their actors leave the stage. It’s a dangerous practice and could be detrimental to kathakali,” said Sreekumar, who loves to perform kathi roles.
“I’ve been performing pacha, kathi, minukku and all, but I have a fascination for kathi roles. It is probably because my first guru (Ermallur Balakrishnan) gave me the first major role of Duryodhana after opting out citing illness, which I realised later was done to give me the chance.“Whichever roles I perform, I try to identify with them — be it Santhanagopalam Brahmanan, who loses his all kids, or Arjunan, who decides to help him after seeing his plight. Even the helplessness of Bahukan fills my mind with confusion,” said Sreekumar.
And what helps him, he believes, is his experience, particularly during his childhood when he starved, slogged at a temple at Kuthiyathodu, near Chethala, along with family members for livelihood and then at a kaliyogam. That has also toughened his resolve, on and off the stage.