Chennai: When he turned 15, he left home to learn Kathakali. So much was his passion for the art form as his orthodox Nair family in the erstwhile Malabar region of Kerala didn’t support his idea.
When he turned 101 in June, Chemmancheri Kunhiraman Nair spent the day thinking of his famous character – Krisha that he immortalized on thousands of stages during a career spanning 85years. It was a journey of transformation.
Being the oldest performing Kathakali artist living today, Chemmancheri’s contribution to the field of dance is huge.
“In Kathakali, a story used to be enacted in many days, and that was the power of this art form. But today it is being played with the whims and fancies of some. I am not happy with the capsule form of Kathakali that is being played today. It should not be entertained,” said Chemmancheri, who was in Chennai to demonstrate a session of Navarasa.
Born on June 26, 1916, for Chemmancheri life as a Kathakali artist was really challenging. But what makes him different is his devotion to the art form.
Even though he has immortalized many famous characters like saint Vishwamitra, Nalan and Keechaka, he is widely known for his Krishna roles. A staunch devotee of lord Krishna, Chemmancheri still believes that it’s his devotion to the god that helped him perform well all these years.
But was it the reason behind restricting him to the role of Krisha all these years? “No, I first started with female roles. I did the role of Draupadi in the beginning. It was my guru Karunakara Menon who suggested that I should do the role of Krishna. In those days, the guru decided what role one should play,” he said.
Training mattered a lot, according to Chemmancheri, in his younger days. Recollecting an event that took place after a play, he described how he underwent a severe punishment from his teachers. “In an episode my expression of pain, when an arrow pierced, was not up to the mark. My guru poked a stick at my belly and I grimaced. And he told me that I should express it on stage. I still stick to the basics,” said Chemmancheri, who has directed more than 40 ballets.
In 1945, he started his first school of Bharathanatyam in Kannur. The Bharatiya Natya Kalayalayam was the first school of Bharathanatyam in the northern part of Kerala. Later, he opened branches of it in other parts of the state.
In 1948, he joined the famous Fairy Circus Company and the Krishna-Gopika dance choreographed by him was a major hit for the circus lovers. He learnt Bharathanatyam from veteran dancer T Balasaraswati for which he had to stay in Madras for almost a year.
Chemmancheri has won many laurels including the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy award.
(Source: The Times of India October 23, 2016)