‘Perhaps the greatest gift of the guru was his effervescent innocence and the disarming smile.’
In an interview a few years ago, Guru Moozhikulam Kochu Kuttan Chakyar, the Koodiyattom legend who passed away on Wednesday, said he had learnt from his guru to perform gazing at the traditional lamp in front of him regardless of whether he had a huge or sparse audience. Unflinching devotion to his art and craft gripped him every time he sported the crown on stage and successive generations of Koodiyattom artistes got inspired by his commitment to the art.
“Perhaps the greatest gift of Guru Moozhikulam was his effervescent innocence and the disarming smile that marked his countenance,” says Margi Sathi, herself a gifted exponent of Nangiarkoothu. “He was like Guru Painkulam Rama Chakyar when it comes to humility. This would prompt us to always go back to him for clarification on mudras (hand gestures) and he would never let us down. As an artiste, he placed special emphasis on the ‘spoken word’ than the action. Even while handling topics of currency, never once did he cross the limits of civility,” says Ms. Sathi, who recalls with relish her association with the maestro when he was a reassuring presence at Margi Theatre in Thiruvananthapuram.
“Asan (the maestro) set to Koodiyattom text the ‘nirvahana’ of Vibhishana in the 7th chapter of ‘Ashcharya choodamani’ and brought it to stage. However, his interpretation of the Ramayana still remains unpublished. He was at his singular best while delineating the bhakti (piety) rasa. Hearsay has it that Kathakali legend Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, mesmerised by Asan’s enactment of Rugmangacharitham (which is popular in Kathakali as well), wondered if there was so much bhakti in Rugmangacharitham,” she says.
Ms. Sathi first met Asan when she was a student at the Kerala Kalamandalam in the mid-1970s. He had gone there to play Yama’s emissary in ‘Bhagavadajjukam’ that was set to Koodiyattom text by Guru Painkulam. About a decade later, he became instrumental in her joining Margi. “It was under his guidance in Margi that I learnt Nangiyarkoothu. Years later, when I wrote and introduced ‘Sreerama Charitham’ in Nangiyarkoothu (which only had Krishna stories till then) format much to the dismay of purists, Asan, who was generally regarded as a stickler for customs, stood firmly in my defence,” she reminisces.
When Ms. Sathi textualised ‘Kannaki Charitham’ Nangiarkoothu, he gave the required guidance by setting the mudras for various characters. “He would never loathe experimentation, despite being particular about adherence to the basics,” she maintains. On April 23, when Margi Sathi enacts the third day of ‘Seethayanam’ authored by her at Rangasree in Thiruvananthapuram, that will be a fitting tribute to the departed maestro.
S. Anandan
(C) The Hindu. The article was originally published in The Hindu on April 19.
i was one of those lucky koodiyattom fans of the new gen to meet asaan .in fact asaan was a friend of my grandfather in irinjalakuda who himself was a great patron of koodiyattom.in his thanksgiving to tripunithura koodiyatom center s felicitaion for his padmsree award ,he said something that was really moving.he said most people say that his award has come late.but for an artist ,the real award has arrived when his art or performance is understood and appreciated as it is rendered...u know,when the audience no matter if it is just one person,is one with him in the performance.he even cited a story to tell this point.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Artistes of his ilk are a rarity these days.
ReplyDelete...and so all the more worthy of our sincere admiration.best wishes for the musketeers legion.
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