THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mohini Vinayan, an artist with three decades of mohiniyattam and theatre experience, reminisces memories has always been an experience conjuring up kaleidoscopical images of a vibrant time. A person who has a lifetime of memories with Kavalam Narayana Panicker, 49-year-old Mohini commenced her dancing career at the age of eight under the guidance of Vasantha Gopala Krishnan. “I began with bharatanatyam. Seeing my interest in learning mohiniyattam, my teacher took me to meet Kavalam Narayana Panicker,” says Mohini. “Kavalam sir was busy selecting the cast for ‘Sakunthalam’ that day. He wanted someone who can dance, sing and act. He was not happy with any of the performers and asked if I can act in the play. My theatre career thus began as Shakuntala at the age of 14 with Kavalam sir.”
She performed Shakuntalam in 1982 at Kalidasa Sama Rohini, Ujjain for the first time. The one-and-half-hour-long play got appreciation from critics. “From then, I acted in various Malayalam, Hindi and Sanskrit plays,” says Mohini. “Hailing from a family with a background in art and culture, my parents were always supportive. My father is still working in Sopanam with the costume execution department. Two of my three siblings are also active in dancing, singing and theatre play performances.”
On her nostalgic memory with Kavalam Narayana Panicker, she says, “He may not be with us physically, but we can feel the presence of his spirit in the kalari.”She has not performed with any theatre company other than Sopanam. Currently, the artist is busy with the rehearsal of two plays. The theatre play ‘Kallurutty’ has been scheduled to be staged at Bhopal on December 25 and ‘Avanavan Kadamba’ at Chennai on January 6. The artist has also developed ‘Sopana Seva Mohiniyatta Avathara Reethi’ with her years of experience and research. She heads the mohiniyattam wing and is one of the creative heads at Sopanam Institute of Performing Arts and Research.