KOCHI:The heart-rending weep of a woman resonates through the dark room. She cries to Mother Earth for mercy. Hearing the soul-crunching sobs, Mother Earth embraces the woman in distress. She comforts the woman as though putting a baby to sleep. This is 'Bhoodevi', a conceptual Bharatanatyam dance created by Sruthy Jayan a few years ago. For Sruthy, known for her role as police constable Alice in the film Angamaly Diaries, dance is not a hobby. Nor is it an elective artform that she had to learn when she was a kid. It is her way of life. And, finally, it is how she lets her voice be heard.
Her next choreographed act 'The Black', which is about the contemporary issues faced by the marginalised sections in the country, will soon reach the public's eye. The work on the script is still in progress, she says.The dancer has been passionate about everything in dance. I began learning Bharatanatyam at the age of four, says Sruthy. When I turned 15, I left for Chennai to learn dance. My father, who is a musician, supported my decision. I joined Kalakshetra where I got the opportunity to meet and associate with many renowned personalities in the field. At Kalakshetra, the Thrissur-native completed her post graduation in Bharatanatyam. Being an alumnus of Kalakshetra, one gets well-respected for their alma mater, she says.It was while she was excelling in her profession of choice that Malayalam films came calling.
Someone in my friends' circle showed my picture to Chemban Vinod, who wrote the script for Angamaly Diaries, says Sruthy. For her, both film and dance are artforms made in separate moulds. Both the artforms are about taking over characters, Sruthy says. In films, there are limitations to express in front of the camera. In dance, the behaviour takes place on different levels. One has to make extra effort to express oneself. While in films one has to act just to an entity called 'the camera', he or she has to act in front of a bigger audience in a dance performance. However, she says she enjoys both unconditionally.The dancer, who was also seen in Paipin Chuvattile Pranayam in another supporting role, will be seen again in Sunny Wayne-starrer French Viplavam and Nithya Haritha Nayakan. Recently, she performed for the dance festival at Koodalmanikyam temple, Irinkalakkuda in Thrissur.