JANABHERI

JANABHERI - KALARI

2006-05-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

This is the building in which

The Janabheri Movement has

made its humble beginning.

Seen as on 14.05.2006

Appreciation Course - 13th & 14th May, 2006

2006-04-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

Appreciation coursewas heldon 13.05.2006 and 15.05.2006 at the Kalari, Chuduvalathur. Sri. Raman Tirumulpad inagurated the two-day-long kalari.

C.P. Unnikrishnan conducted the class on the intricacies of Kathakali and demonstrated how precisely it's attunued to the structure of a human body. Nandakumaran Nair, Athira, Abhimanyu & pramod demonstarted character exposition meyhods. Sri. Mohanankrishnan (v0cal) Kalamandalam Vijayakrishnan on chenda, Kapli Nambootiri on maddalam added the required flavour to the presentations.

On the 14.05.2006, under the combined auspices of the Shivakshetra samithi and the kalari, a session of kathakali was organised. Subhadraharanam (part 1) and Rambhapravesam were the sequences presented. Before this session Sri. Rajanandan explained the presentation mode of Subhadraharanam (part 1) assisted bt Peesappally Rajeev to demonstrate certain nuances.

NANDAKUMARAN NAIR

2006-03-27T04:33:00.000-08:00

OUR CHIEF INSTRUCTOR
Body, mind and & intellect in unison, when strike the chords of aesthetic wisdom, colours and forms carve inimitable sculptures of the divine and the devilish from the neither worlds. When the silence of action is juxtaposed to stentorian percussions & melody of human voice, against the backdrop of natural darkness, there evolves a process of dynamic meditation. This is Kathakali, the globally accepted theatric mascot of Kerala. Kerala, the coastline land that clings to the tip of the peninsular terrains of India has an innate geography written & drawn in brilliant greens amidst a large gamut of several natural hues. Kathakali reflects these colours and forms, thus issuing a gate pass to transcend the realms of reality to experience the bliss of tranquility.

Harmonising, the psychosomatic components of a human body to shape a perfect Kathakali actor is a decade long process, which should commence from the very young days of a boy, ideally during the age between ten and twelve. To stand the strain of physical exercises & body massage, prescribed by the martial school of Kalari-payattu along with the learning processes involving deeper principles of aesthetics and literature, one needs to have a high degree tenacity; not quite common among the youngsters. To master the art in all its totality is still a greater task. To sustain the mastery achieved through a period of four or five decades as a performer calls for a commitment which many do not boldly accept. K.M. Nandakumaran Nair is one such artiste, who can be enlisted as one who boldly meets such demands.

Nandakumaran born on the 17th of August, 1945, hails from a family that belongs to one of the older generations in the Nair community, from the serene village of Desamangalam. Nairs & Menons, as communities have handed over to Kathakali, several maestros during the last four centuries. Nandkumaran learned the art of Ottanthullal during the 1954-‘59 under Kalamandalam Divakaran Nair & Malabar Kannan Nair, the senior instructors at the Kerala Kalamandalam, Chruthuruthy, Kerala. His training in Kathakali commenced in 1963, at the PSV Natyasangham, Kottakkal, under the tutelage of Kottakkal Krishnankutty Nair. After his student days, Nandakumaran served the PSV Natyasangham as a performer and a teacher till 1998. He still continues to be a free lance performer, teacher and recourse person.

Ever pleasing and intelligent, his human self is simple, humble and friendly. In the training procedures and the stage he is a taskmaster. His uniqueness lies in his unwillingness to compromise for commercial reasons or wider popularity. Well read and experienced also due to his travels outside India, Nandakumaran is fully conscious of the trends in theatres outside the school of Kathakali too. His interests in classics, philosophy, spirituality and audio-visual media as a whole has forced him rethink and assess the tenets he by-hearted as a student. Nanadakumaran is not against changes or experiments; but believes in ‘logic without aesthetic loss’. His presentation of Ravana in the story “Ravanodbhavam” with mizhavu (a percussion instrument, conventionally used in koodiyattom) and participation in the Kathakali version of the story “King Lear” Nandakumaran’s mastery as a performer enables enacting a wide variety of characters without too much of specialization. However, in his hands, both sober and villainous characters attain their shapes. The concepts and the language of Kathakali have certain kinesthetic subtleties, which when overlooked or mishandled, result in theatric disaster. Nandakumaran’s dexterity is absolutely dependable to ensure that such an incident never occurs on the stage. He has in his mind, role models among the earlier master actors. But, seldom does he opt for a straight imitation. Characters like Ravana, Narakasura, Duryodhana (technically belonging to the ‘kathi’ type), Bheema, Arjuna, & Nala (technically belonging to the ‘pacha’ type) as well as Parasurama & Hanuman are some of his most favourite ones, which the earnest Kathakali lovers would never like to miss.

Nandakumaran has a profound sense of music in terms of tunes and rhythmic syllables and a Terpsichorean vision, which falls in line with the total body language, assigned to Kathakali. Distribution of the task of elucidating emotions to the entire body is the observed uniqueness of Kathakali. This very specific technique separates Kathakali from its parallel forms like Koodiyattom & Krishnanattom. When many of his contemporary artistes fail in realizing and practicing it, Nandakumaran is able to maintain it. Scholars as well as common men in any assorted group of audience who steadily watch Kathakali admit this. This obviously is the reason why many of the serious theatre schools from Paris, Jakarta, Beijing, Korea, Berlin, France, Sweden, Poland, Brasil etc. invite him several times since 1971, to conduct workshops and present Kathakali.

JANABHERI

2006-03-27T04:21:00.000-08:00

JANABHERI (Voice Of The People) is a new joint venture of Kathakali artistes, Researchers, Students & Well-wishers. This unit is situated in a very serene environment, close to the solemn precincts of the Lord Shiva's Temple, Chuduvalathur, Shornur, Kerala, India. JANABHERI has been serving for the cause of Kathakali during the past two years, which include promotional activities like organising stage shows, conducting appreciation classes, seminars, practice sessions, exhibitions, honouring the existing maestros etc. JANABHERI has its own Kalari (training area) and also a stage next to it.

Prime Objectives:

Impart training in the different areas of Kathakali to all the discerning students. Different syllabi formats are being made to suit the requirement of the seekers. Vesham (Character acting), Vocal Music, Instrumental Music, Facial Makeup, Costume Making, Body Massage, Kathakali-related Journalism & Documentation using different It media are the disciplines which this unit would undertake. Enthusiasm, commitment and objectivity of the learners are more important than the age, sex or nativity of the learners.

Evolve a strong set of educated artists who would do away with the cleft that develops at times when the existing masters leave the stage. Such artists will be able to develop themselves as multitask experts. This should do away with "the fear of earning enough" that many of the upcoming exclusive professionals have in their minds.

While all attempts to preserve the art would continue, the workers of JANABHERI will not neglect its etesian transformation and transfer to anchor among the generations of any period.

Students, Researchers & those who would prefer to know enough to appreciate Kathakali, from India & abroad will be given all necessary assistants.

Short & long duration courses for learners from different categories of the society will be tailor-made, in consultation with the Academic & Research Division. Eg. there may be one who just wants to have the experience of enacting a character once, wearing the costumes or just in practice costumes. He/she will be given the necessary assistance.

Full time & Part time learners in all Kathakali-disciplines will also be accepted to be trained within the structured syllabi.

Study of other related art forms to facilitate experimentation and explore the applied value of Kathakali.

JANABHERI is ever open to any suggestion from anyone who takes Kathakali seriously. In fact, our workers look forward to receive constructive ideas from our well-wishers.

Kathakali Instructor: K. Nandakumaran Nair (Rtd. from the PSV Natyasangham, Kottakkal)

Academics & Research: C.P.Unnikrishnan, Vellinezhi Achuthankutty,

Administraion : M.N.Vinayakumar & K. Sasi

Mail: janabheri@keralaarts.in