Girish Karnad

Here's something about one of my favourite theater actors...Girish Karnad.

One of India’s foremost modern playwrights, Girish Karnad has artfully juggled many roles. A noted actor, filmmaker and critic, he has also served as Director of the Film and Television Institute, Pune, (Fulbright Playwright-in Residence and Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago (1987-88), Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Academy (1988-93) and Director of the Nehru Centre at the Indian High Commission in London.

Having earned his B.A in mathematics and statistics, at Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnad, joined the Magdalen College, Oxford, as a Rhodes scholar. After his return to India, he joined the Oxford University Press, but resigned, to devote himself to writing and filmmaking.

Yayati, Karnad's first play, (1961) won the Mysore State Award in 1962. But it was his second play, Tughlaq (1966) that won him critical acclaim and established him as a writer of repute. Considered an allegory on the Nehruvian era, the play, records the personal transformation of the medieval ruler Mohammad Bin Tughlaq from a sensitive idealist to a tyrant.

Rooted in Indian mythology, history and traditional puranic themes, Karnad’s plays mirror contemporary socio-political realities and modern man’s existentialist crises. In his 1972 play, Hayavadana, for example, the playwright used the folk art form of yakshagana to examine the divide between mind and body. Two plays, Naga-Mandala and Taledanda, followed soon after, and Karnad was conferred a series of eminent awards including the Sahitya Akademi Award, in 1994. Written in his adopted language, Kannada, Karnad has himself translated his works (except Anjumallige and Hittina hunja) into English. His other prominent plays are Anjumallige (1977), Hittina hunja (1980 ), Agni Mattu Male (‘Fire and the Rain’ commissioned by Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis), Dreams of Tipu Sultan (radio-play commissioned by BBC in 1996) and Bali, the Sacrifice (.commissioned by the Leicester Haymarket Theatre).

Karnad’s very first film Samskara, which he scripted and acted in, won the President’s Gold Medal in the Best Indian Film category in 1970. He has also scripted and directed films like Vamsha Vriksha (Kannada), Kaadu (Kannada), Godhuli (Hindi), Ondanondu Kaaladalli (Kannada), Utsav (Hindi) and Cheluvi (Kannada). A versatile actor he has essayed roles in films like Vamsha Vriksha (1971), Manthan (Hindi; 1976), Cheluvi (1992) and more recently Iqbal (Hindi; 2005). His vast repertoire also includes directing documentary films like ‘The Lamp in the Niche’(1989), ‘D.R Bendre’(1973), television programmes like ‘Who Ghar’(1984) and anchoring the series ‘Turning Point’

Karnard has been decorated with the Padma Shri (1974), the Padma Bhushan (1992) Jnapith Award (1999) and made Doctor of Letters by Karnatak University in 1994.

The dance of the enchantress!

So finally I did manage to open my blog and, here goes my very first write-up!

Now dance is my passion, and believe it or not but, my very first act on stage was when I was just three years old. I was into Kathak. However there's one dance form which has intrigued me --it is Mohiniattam, or the dance of the enchantress.
This semi-classical dance form, is indigenous to Kerala. Literally meaning “the dance of the enchantress” (from Mohini, “a beautiful woman’ and attam, “dance”), it is performed solely by female artistes.
A woman-centric art form, Mohiniattam, explores themes of ‘sringara’ or love, and ‘lasya’ or grace,  ideas echoed in Hindu mythology too. During amrit manthan - the churning of the celestial ocean for nectar, Lord Vishnu, took the form of the seductress Mohini, to entice the demon Bhamasura and ensuring that the God’s received the nectar and saved the universe from destruction. Thus the myth of the ‘enchantress’, or devotion to Vishnu, forms a core to any Mohiniattam recital.
The first mention of this dance form is found in the 16th century composition, ‘Vyavaharamala’ by Mazhamangalam Narayanan Namboodiri. However, it was not until the 19th century that this almost-fading art form was revived.
Though predominantly a solo dance, nowadays it is also performed in groups. Patterned on Bharatanatya with elements of Kathakali, Mohiniattam follows the basic dance steps of Adavus - Taganam, Jaganam, Dhaganam and Sammisram, which are rooted in Vaittari. Mohiniattam incorporates articulate expression of the eyes and graceful movements, as mentioned in the Hastha Lakshanadeepika guide to mudras.
The dance is enhanced by Carnatic accompanimets such as the thoppi, maddalam and veena, adding a vibrant milieu. However, these classical accoutrements, have now been replaced by the mridangam and violin.
The major artistes associated with Mohiniattam are Chinnammu Amma, Kalyani Kuttiamma, Kanak Rele, Sunanda Nair, Deepti Bhalla and Bharati Shivaji.
The repertoire of a Mohiniattam recital consists of five principal items, starting with cholkettu, then varnam, jatiswaram, padam and concluding with tillana. The dance starts off with cholkettu followed by varnam, which focuses on the expressions of the dancer. The third, padam, brings forth the histrionic talents of the dancer. The final act, tillana, ends in a flourish, expressing the artist's technical mastery of the art form.