MALAPPURAM: Aswathy Srikanth, Bharathanatyam artist and daughter of M T Vasudevan Nair, will showcase a special dance performance during the navathi (90th birthday) celebration of the celebrated writer. Aswathy told TNIE that songs from famous MT movies have been selected for the dance performance.
Aswathy and seven of her students will perform for one and a half hours on the second day of the five-day celebration organised by the Thunchan Memorial Trust and Research Centre (Thunchan Parambu) in association with the state cultural department at Tirur from May 16 to 20.
“The songs selected for the performance include Samaja Sancharini and Parvanendu Mukhi from the movie Parinayam, Dum Dum Dundubhi Nadam from Vaishali, Unni Ganapathi from Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, and Ragam Sreeragam from Bandhanam. This apart, the Gandhari Vilapam portion from Ezhuthachan’s Mahabharatam Kilippattu will also be performed. I hope my father will like our performance,” said Aswathy, who teaches classical dance to around 70 students at her dance school, Nrityalaya School for Classical Dances.
Music performances, movie screenings, exhibitions, seminars and other programmes will add grandeur to the navathi celebrations.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the event on the first day. The CM will hand over a memento to MT on the occasion. Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian will preside over. Actor Mammooty will be the chief guest. Sports Minister V Abdurahiman will inaugurate ‘Kaazhcha’, an exhibition of books, awards, paintings, and photos of MT.
“In 2023, MT completed 30 years as the chairman of the Thunchan Memorial Trust. The trust is also celebrating MT’s three-decade-long service at Thunchan Parambu,” said Kamal Nath, an official with Thunchan Memorial Trust.
In the morning session of the second day, George Onakkoor, B Jeyamohan, M M Narayanan, and T D Ramakrishnan will speak about novels written by MT. C V Balakrishnan, P K Rajashekaran, Subash Chandran and K Rekha will speak about the short stories of MT in the afternoon session. In the evening session, a meeting of the followers of MT will be held. Chitran Namboothiripad will inaugurate the session.
In the morning session of the third day, film directors Hariharan, Priyadarshan, and Lal Jose, former chief secretary and poet K Jayakumar, and actors Seema and Vineeth will speak about the contributions of MT to Malayalam cinema.
In the afternoon session, Works Minister P A Mohamed Riyas will inaugurate a seminar on the journalistic career of MT. In the evening session, the movie, Nirmalyam, written and directed by MT, and the drama ‘Sherlock’, written by MT, will be shown.
A musical night, featuring songs from MT’s movies, led by Edappal Vishwanathan will be held on the third day. On the fourth day, several people will speak about MT. The finance minister will inaugurate the concluding ceremony.