On most mornings these days, Lalitha Das is on the phone. Either she is calling up Kathakali dancers or speaking to hotel employees or tour operators or sponsors. That is because she is prepping for an upcoming Kathakali production. “All the artists will be coming from Kerala,” says Lalitha, the founder of the Bangalore Club for Kathakali and the Arts. “There is a lot of hard work behind the scenes. But I feel confident after our last event went well.” And in making it a reality, her writer daughter, Meena Das Narayan, played an equal part. It was the Kathakali classical opera, ‘Karna: The Invincible’, that was held at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall in Bengaluru.
In the first scene, the dancers stand one behind the other and raise their hands to the heavens. Right behind, on a screen, there is an image of the orb of the sun rising between two mountain peaks.“In this scene, Kunthi asks for a boon and is granted a son by the Sun God,” says Meena, who wrote the screenplay as well as directed the play. In the next scene, the baby Karna is adopted by a charioteer and his wife. He grows up as a commoner and becomes an ace archer who challenges the Pandavas and Kauravas in a display of strength.
The sequences of the sumptuous cultural extravaganza are dramatic, with dancers wielding maces and jumping across the stage accompanied by pulsating music. Karna is played by Kathak dancer Tushar Bhatt, while his wife Pooja has done the choreography. A total of 55 artists took part in it. Watching this all go smoothly gives a sense of satisfaction to Lalitha as Kathakali is very close to her heart.
The idea to form a cultural club came up over a dinner conversation that Lalitha had with Meena and her husband, Narayan, after her husband KG Das passed away in 1999. “It had become difficult for me to travel to Kerala on my own to watch Kathakali performances. I felt that through the club, we could popularise as well as watch Kathakali in Bengaluru,” says the 81-year-old, who has won the Samanvay Kalasree Award—instituted by the Sri Raja Rajeshwari Kalaniketan, Bengaluru—for her contribution in the field of Kathakali.
Today, the club is thriving and Lalitha has a clear agenda. “I want to promote Kathakali among other communities, like the Kannadigas, Tamilians and the Telugu people,” she says. “Hence, the mudras are explained in detail so that the audience can understand the performance.”
Apart from Kathakali, the club promotes other classical dance forms like the Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam and Bharatanatyam.But the emphasis is on Kathakali. “It is an enduring love,” says Lalitha, who learnt the dance form as a child while growing up in Thiruvananthapuram. At 17, she got married and left Kerala. Since her husband, a chief engineer, had a transferable job, she moved from place to place: Burla (Odisha), Delhi, Pune, Baghdad and Tripoli. Sometimes, she would organise Kathakali performances whenever the couple was in India.
About the charms of Kathakali, Lalitha says, “It is a combination of excellent music, percussion, and action. There is no other art form that combines all three so well. And the artists are so dedicated, which adds to the performance.”
Her idol is the legendary Kalamandalam Gopi. “When he is in full costume, like Karna, he takes us back to that era,” says Lalitha. “He has the magic to immerse himself in the character. And his eyes are so expressive.”When asked about her future plans, Lalitha says, “At 81, I am having the time of my life. My dream is to conduct at least five to six performances every year. ”
The club
Set up in 2009, the club honours accomplished and upcoming artists for excellence in their fields. So far, eight awards have been presented.Three operas—Valmiki Pratibha, Silappadikaram–a great Tamil epic, Karna The Invincible—staged so far.