NEYYATTINKARA: Who does not know comrades Achuthan and Vijayan? You know that Sreekrishnan is called Achuthan and Arjunan is called Vijayan, right? “So I said ‘Achuthante sakhavanallo Vijayan’. “Their names cropped up in Ananthakrishnan A R’s Chakyar Koothu which won the first prize in Thiruvananthapuram Revenue District School Kalotsavam.
“I based it on ‘Panchali Swayamvaram’,” he said and added that Vijayan sought Achuthan's opinion even though the two were not on good terms. A sprinkle of politics and a Chakyar's razor-sharp wit - one expects this in a Chakyarkoothu performance. Even in performances which are cut short to 20 minutes.
Ananthakrishnan goes for full-fledged performances with his father and teacher, Raman Chakyar. "I play the 'mizhavu', while my father narrates the story and since I accompanied him often, I remember the two-hour story," he said.
Original Chakyar Koothu performances can go on for four hours, said Raman. "But with the advent of TV serials, few people are interested in Chakyar Koothu. I know of performances which had to be ended in one-and-a-half-hours, as the audience could not stay on," he said.
There were less than 20 people to witness Ananthakrishnan's performance at the Kalotsavam.
"I don't perform at temples anymore, as I am in Plus-one, and we have so much to study. December to April is peak time when we are invited to various temple festivals," said Ananthakrishnan.