KOCHI: A fleeting moment of thought to take her art beyond the imagined lines drawn around it was caught by Mohiniyattam exponent Ayswaria Wariar. She tamed the idea, let it grow and started working relentlessly to make it a reality. A first-of-its-kind dance film was the outcome. “It’s not a dance documentary or album, but a film. There’s a theme and a narration,” said Ayswaria, who has always been passionate about Mohiniyattam.
The artist who teaches the dance form in Vadodara, possibly the only one to have taken this dance form from Kerala to the capital of Gujarat, also lived for a while in Mumbai. However, she always found inspiration for her performance from Kerala, be it mythological narratives or the poems of the late Kavalam Narayana Panicker.
Why a film on dance? “I’ve always choreographed themes that have hit me hard, like, Shakuntala or Ganga. I’ve performed on stage numerous times,” said Ayswaria. “And I’ve always felt that when stage performances are archived and reproduced again, they leave a lot to be desired because so many things go unnoticed, such as the sounds of the bells, the ‘bhavas’ and mudras. However, when a visual narrative is born out of the astuteness of cinematography and the performing art of storytelling, it becomes an unparallelled medium of expression.”
To choose a theme was not an easy task, but finally, after much research, Ayswaria decided to take up an unpublished piece of poetry, ‘Nilima’ penned by the late multifaceted Mali Madhavan Nair. “The poet is talking about the blue hue, of the skies, the ocean and the feather of the peacock. It’s a beautiful poem and makes a rare connect with my life. I’m narrativizing it with my interpretation of the blue hue; it’s a 23 minute film where my character travels through the poem exploring its depth and meaning.” The film has been shot largely in Cherai but with many different backdrops.
Cinematographer Murali Krishna, who is also the co-director, adds that no other danseuse has made a narrative film on dance before in Kerala. “Ayswaria is such an amazing improvisor that I had a tough time keeping up,” he said. Murali added that Ayswaria wears the multiple hats of director, conceptualiser, choreographer and the performer, which isn’t a small feat to achieve.
Ayswaria feels that maybe she’s destined to bring the poem to the world. “Mali Madhavan Nair’s children were so happy that his poem had been chosen for this. His son, Madhav Mohan has given a byte in the introduction,” she said. Was the transfer from stage to screen difficult? “I’m always dancing in my mind, wherever I’m,” she smiled.
The film is to be screened at the Kerala Chalachitra Akademi in Thirivananthapuram on April 4 and in Padma theatre on April 6 in Kochi.