THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Shehnath was shivering with fever and Hasanath looked exhausted after five hours of makeup and ten minutes of on-stage performance. Within minutes, however, the duo pulled back their energy levels and spoke enthusiastically about their debut kathakali performance at the school arts festival on Thursday.
Coming from GRHSS, Malappuram, the twin sisters presented the group performance alongside their friend Nayana Krishna. The performance was a befitting example of the spirit Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had spoken of in his inaugural address — art can be used to oppose communal thoughts.
It was while in Class 4 that Shehnath and Hasanath Mariam studied a story about a child going to attend a kathakali performance. The lesson went on but their minds stuck to the art form. Though initially worried how their family would react to their wish of learning the art form, they were overjoyed when their parents happily agreed to it.
“We never bothered about what others could possibly say. And in fact, others didn’t intervene,” said Shakeila V K, their mother.
Thus, in Class 5, began the twins’ association with kathakali, at the P S Varrier Natyasangham.
To present the famous ‘Lavanasuravadham’, the team comprising the twins practised for nearly five months. The siblings portrayed Lava and Kusha, the twin sons of Lord Ram, in the kathakali performance adapted from the Ramayana. The identical twins were identical in their moves as well, with spot-on coordination in every move.