KOCHI: The Malayalam music video, Koottuveshangal (co-actors) conceptualised and directed by actor and theatre artist Ramesh Varma recently won many international recognitions including the Best Music Short Film award at the Munich Music Video Festival and Best Musical Film (Short) award at IMVA Awards Londo. The seven-minute music video features the life of two veteran Kathakali artists and their passion for art. It is also a tribute to Kathakali and many of its patrons who lost their stage to the pandemic.
Kootuveshangal is accompanied by the song ‘ravine priyatharamakiya’, a soft melody or ‘padam’ that accompanies Kathakali and Mohiniyattam. It is a love song laced with subtle strokes of eroticism that speaks of passion and loss. Ramesh collaborated with his old friend from Maharajas College and musician Sajith Pallippuram for the project. Sajith composed and sung the song two years ago, says Ramesh who was also a former teacher at the theatre department in Sree Sankaracharya University, Kalady.
“A couple of years ago, Sajith dropped his engineering job to focus more on independent music. I came across the song he composed to the lyrics penned by PK Muraleekrishnan. For the music video, I interpreted the love in its lyrics as an artist’s love for the art they have been performing all their lives,” says Ramesh.
The music video features Kottakal Nandakumaran Nair, a renowned Kathakali dancer famous for his ‘Kathi’ veshas and FACT Padmanabhan who excels in female characters aka ‘Minukku’ veshas. In the video, the veteran actors, share a strong bond with each other. When one of them meets an untimely death during his performance, the other experiences a sullen silence.
“Kathakali maestro Madavoor Vasudevan Nair collapsed on stage and died mid-performance. His indefinite longing for art was evident as he was laid down to rest in the kathakali make-up. I know many such artists who gave their life to Kathakali. Koottuveshangal is a tribute to them,” says Ramesh who adds that the video will be soon released on Music Mumbe’s YouTube page.
Roopesh Atholi cranked the camera while Manish K P edited the video.