PALAKKAD: From nine-year-old Veda Vishnu to 58-year-old Shailaja, there are over 60 female students training under the tutelage of kathakali exponent Kalamandalam Venkitaraman P N. This is supposedly the highest number of female students training under a single instructor in Kerala. The 53-year-old is engaged in class throughout the day at his house on the outskirts of Palakkad.
There is no class schedule or batch system, but this departure from the norm does not mean there are lapses. Asan, as Venkitaraman is called by his students, is a tough disciplinarian, and his commitment to imparting the traditional art form has seen few parallels.
“I had performed for the youth festival in 1990-91. However, after marriage, though I harboured a desire to continue learning kathakali, I could not. I was 40 when I met Asan. But when I expressed my interest, he welcomed me to his class. I have been his student for the past eight years,” said Priya Sukumaran, a homemaker.
Earlier this month, 42 women tutored by Asan staged a Mahabharatha Kathakali Mahotsavom at the Emoor Bhagavathy temple auditorium. The performance, which comprised nine stories from the epic, stretched for about 20 hours.
“I had to perform the character of Kaatalan in Kiratham. Though doctors advised me against performing, I did and Asan encouraged me. A disciple is only given a stage after rigorous training,” Priya added. S Radha Bhaskar has been learning kathakali under Asan for the past five years. She, too, performed one of the characters in Mahabharatha.
“Asan understands very well which character will suit a particular girl or woman from only a few classes. Subsequently, he will mould the disciple to fit that particular character,” said Radha, who’s recently taken a break from kathakali to pursue higher studies.
Dhanya Kiran, who works for a leading Malayalam channel in Ernakulam, travels every weekend to attend Asan’s classes. She had donned the role of Krishna in the play “Duryodhana Vadham” in the recently held Mahabharatha Mahotsavam.
Recalling his past, Kalamandalam Venkitaraman said that he had completed 14 years at the Kerala Kalamandalam and had worked as a guest lecturer for some time. “Later, in 2004, I thought of moving to Palakkad and began teaching kathakali to students here,” he said.
“It is only after practising the Mey uruppu adavu, Kaal sadhakam (foot exercises), chuzhippugal (for body flexibility) and ‘elaki attangal’ for mastering the mudras and padangal that Asan will allow a stage perform ance,” said Abhinaya, another student who has been training under Asan for past two years.
Venkitaraman explains why. “I do not encourage students who demand short-term courses solely for participating in youth festivals. Recently, one of my disciples, Ameya Prakash, performed the role of Bheema in ‘Bhaka Vadham’, which required a two-hour performance. She was able to pull it off as she had been training for the past seven years,” he explains.