Miles away from the metro, in the deep rural pocket of Punjarsantankal near Kancheepuram, a group of artistes, including a few as young as seven, have been practising the ancient folk art of Kattaikkuttu every day. For them, the art form is part of the routine at their Gurukulam — Kattaikuttu Young Professional’s Company. On Friday, the group will be bringing the rural theatre from the grassy grounds of the village to the squeaky clean stage of Narada Gana Sabha with the performance Draupadi Kuruvanji — a production by the five-year-old Shraddha theatre.
“It is quite different performing in the city within the four walls. Back in the village, each performance goes on for eight hours, but since we are staging it in the city, we have condensed it to 90 minutes,” says Hanne M de Bruin, wife of artiste Perungattur P Rajagopal, who founded Kattaikuttu Young Professional’s Company in 2008. “In the village, it is an open air theatre, so we prefer to work without amplification.
Also, in the performance here, comedy scenes will disappear because there is simply no time for it,” adds the Dutch native, who has been in India for 28 years.
While the group has performed in Urur Kuppam, Kalakshetra and Alliance Francaise previously, Hanne says there are many young artistes in the upcoming play, who are excited to perform in the city for the first time.
The artistes will be narrating a piece from Mahabharata, set during the time when the Pandavas are about to come out of their 12-year-long forest exile, into civil society. The play will show how Draupadi, with the help of Krishna, disguises herself as a kuravathi and walks into Duryodhana’s palace to stop him from conducting the funeral rites of the Pandavas which will declare them dead in the eyes of society and prevent them from coming back to power.
“This is part of the Koothu repertoire, but not something that you will find in the classical versions of Mahabharatha. Kuruvanji is a famous folk scene in Tamil Nadu because of the role of Kuravathi, which is a very energetic role for a female character,” she says.
The students have been rehearsing the songs, dance and drama everyday for at least two hours, besides studying the five formal subjects at the school. Many have been with the gurukulam for around eight years. Many of those who graduate from the school work as assistant teachers or help on the financial side.
All of them are all from poor financial background and lower strata of society, in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu. “These are the only kids who will come for koothu training. Unfortunately, that is where the tradition still fits,” says Hanne with a smile.
Draupadi Kuruvanji, Shraddha’s 17th production, will be staged between March 13 and 16 at 7 pm, at Narada Gana Sabha. Call 9840208583 for details.
Discovering Kattaikuttu
Hanne had come down from Netherlands to pursue her studies in Indology, when she got introduced to the world of Kattaikuttu. “I had to learn Sanskrit and Mahabharata as part of my studies. It was complicated. It was then I saw the whole thing being presented as a performance, and I immediately connected to it,” she recalls. “These are interesting Shakespearean stories that speak all time and to all people,” she says. Hanne decided to stay back and help Rajagopal realise his dream of having a school that gives both formal education and professional training in folk art.
The Origin: Kattaikuttu or Therukoothu, is based on episodes from the epic Mahabharata, adapted to the local situation. The plays feature universal emotions and dilemmas of valour, jealousy, hatred, love, grief and despair, loyalty to one’s family and friends, and folly. It is performed in the Northern districts of Tamil Nadu like Villupuram, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, and Kancheepuram districts up to Andhra. It is the Tamil version of Kathakali in Kerala, but the difference is that in Kattaikuttu, the artistes have to sing as well, says Hanne.