A slip of the tongue gave Nataraja Krishnamoorthy a new name that sticks to this day. The 61-year-old chairman of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy and founder-director of Soorya Stage and Film Society was accidentally called Soorya Krishnamoorthy by his daughter, who was in second grade then. Soorya is a popular cultural festival (credited by Limca Book of World Records for being the world’s longest festival running for 65 days) that Tagore Theatre, Thiruvananthapuram, hosts annually. The society has carpeted across 36 countries in the world with 60 centres in India. ‘Theatre of Freedom’, the first-ever mobile light and sound show and a new theatrical art form is his brain child.
Krishnamoorthy strives to speak on behalf of real artists who don’t believe in selling their art. According to him, it’s high time those who dedicated their lives to their art forms were identified and given due recognition. “A Theyyam (a ritualistic art form in Kerala) artiste, who does the act on burning embers, is pleasing the goddess not for the good of himself, but to bring prosperity for the entire place. Such has to be the commitment an artiste needs to have,” he says.
In this regard, he speaks highly of veteran singer KJ Yesudas who prefers to fund heart surgeries of poor people than have a lavish birthday. Krishnamoorthy has also been financially helping a struggling veteran for 36 years. He urges everyone to do the same as many artistes live in penury these days.
Krishnamoorthy honours veteran artists through Gurupooja, when he offers an economically underprivileged veteran with a gurudakshina (an amount that varies every year). He has won so many prestigious awards including the National Award for Stage Craft and Direction of President of India in 1996. He has been conferred the highest honours from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry governments. In 2001, the Kerala Government selected him as one among the 101 world renowned living Keralites of the Millennium. And he became Limca Book of Record’s Man of the Year in 2003. He started the International Film Festival under the banner of Kerala State Film Development Corporation, which grew into International Film Festival of Kerala and has served as the vice-chairman and executive committee member of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy. He also has to his credit a number of stage shows he has scripted and choreographed, like the inaugural and valedictory functions of the 1988 National Games.
He is also pained that sometimes artistes do not receive the recognition due to them. On becoming the chairman of the academy in 2011, Krishnamoorthy instituted a sum of `one lakh as subsidy for amateur plays and `10,000 for Kathaprasangam (a form of storytelling).
He has even turned his residence at Thycaud in Thiruvananthapuram into an abode of art. The roof-top has been converted into a koothambalam where artistes can practice. It also has an attached dormitory for artistes to stay.
Krishnamoorthy credits his team for the smooth
of Soorya Festival. “Those who come and watch the Soorya Festival shall return purified and enriched. We are not paid in the name of the festival. A majority of his team members include doctors and nurses who work overtime, and the extra income they receive is spent on booking halls for the
festival.”
— meera.manu@newindianexpress.com