KOCHI: The Kerala Kalamandalam on Saturday appointed B Ananthakrishnan, a professor in theatre arts at the Hyderabad Central University as the Vice-Chancellor of the deemed-to-be university. Chancellor Mallika Sarabhai appointed Ananthakrishnan from the list of three candidates recommended by the three- member search committee headed by Dr J Prasad. The post of vice-chancellor had been lying vacant for the past one-and-a-half years, and Kalady Sree Sankaracharya University Vice-Chancellor, M V Narayanan, was given additional charge of Kalamandalam.
Ananthakrishnan has been serving as the head of the Department of Theatre Arts at the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication under the Central University of Hyderabad. He had served as the executive council member (2012-15), dean and proctor during his 23-year-long service at the Hyderabad University. He is a member of academic committees and boards of universities and organisations in India and abroad. Ananthakrishnan was the executive committee member of the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) and founder general secretary of the Indian Society for Theatre Research (ISTR).
Born at Sooranadu in Kollam district, he had served as the research officer at the School of Drama in Thrissur from 1989 to 1992 and at the Folklore Department of Calicut University for two years. “Kalamandalam is a great institution for traditional arts where we can witness an interface with modernity. It has the potential to grow as a global institution for classical arts and I am happy to associate with the institution,” Ananthakrishnan told TNIE.