The diva of late 1990s Malayalam silver screen Manju Warrier is all set to be in the limelight after a long break, but not to the silver screen as yet. The versatile artist has decided to perform bharatanatyam at the Navarathri Nritha Manadapam of Guruvayur Sreekrishna Temple on October 24.
The Guruvayur Devaswom officials have announced her classical dance performance during the dance fest which will be held at the temple as part of the nine-day Navaratri celebrations. The actor-cum-dancer, who ascended to stardom swiftly in her career, had accepted a self-imposed exile from all public appearances for the past 13 years after her marriage to actor Dileep in 1999. Her fans can heave a sigh of relief now with her decision to appear at least on the stage. “There has been a great deal of media speculation about her return to the stage and to the screen. Manju and her family members contacted us with a request to stage a dance programme before Lord Guruvayurappan on the Vidhyarambam day,” said Murali, PRO of Guruvayur Devaswom.
“It has been thirteen long years since we last saw her onscreen and stage and I can’t think of any actress as versatile as Manju in South India,” said Chitralekha, professional danseuse based in Thrissur. “Her performances with acting maestros in the Mollywood had won her applause from the public and plaudits from critics,” she added. When ‘Express’ contacted, Manju was not available for comments but sources close to her family said that there is little chance that the national film award winner would use this opportunity to make a come-back to the tinsel world. She doesn’t have any plan as yet to return to the silver screen, they said.
Other dancers such as Kalamandalam Kshemavathy, Sree Lakshmi Govardhan, Pallavi Krishnan, Geetha Radhakrishna of Mumbai, yesteryear actress Parvathy Jayaram, Aparna Achuthan of Mumbai, Surabhi M Bharadwaj and Kumar K Mysore will also perform during the Navarathri dance fest, which will begin on Monday.