In what will be one of the final public performances at Studio Tamaasha, koodiyattam exponent Ammannur Rajaneesh Chakyar will enact Sugreeva, a contemplative piece that deals with the eponymous character’s stirring moment of truth while preparing to battle his belligerent brother, Bali. This is Rajaneesh’s second visit in as many years to the popular arts venue which, dishearteningly for local theatre aficionados, will shut shop at its Aaram Nagar location a day later, on Sunday.
On the days preceding this unexpected development, it is characteristically business as usual at the bijou space, with Rajaneesh conducting an intense three-day workshop on koodiyattam techniques before signing off with a signature piece that he has frequently performed.
Rajaneesh had a typically early initiation into the classical form, debuting in 1991 at age ten at the Koodalmanikyam temple in Irinjalakuda, the Kerala town that has been at the forefront of koodiyattam’s slow resurrection in recent decades.
With more than 25 years of performing experience under his belt, Rajaneesh is arguably one of the most accomplished performers of his generation. At his last appearance at Tamaasha, Rajaneesh had performed Kailasodharanam (‘The Lifting of Mount Kailasa’), an episode that is detailed in Thoranayudham (‘The Battle at the Entrance’), the third act of Bhasa’s Abhisheka Natakam, an important text in the traditional koodiyattam repertoire. Sugreeva is an excerpt from the first act of the same narrative, titled ‘Balivadham’ (‘The Death of Bali’). “All the navarasas will come into focus as I delve into Sugreeva’s mental agonies, as he remains confined on a mountain, frightened of Bali,” says Rajaneesh of the hour-long performance. His last outing at the space was conducted in the minimal costume used for demonstration purposes, but Sugreeva will be staged in full traditional costume.
New ways of expression
Over several trips to Mumbai, Rajaneesh has carefully observed the manner in which theatre practitioners have begun embracing an ages-old form. He has conducted chakyar koothu (a form of storytelling) sessions for members of the Malayali diaspora at the Sri Ayyappa temple in Nerul, but more than the general public, it is actors and dancers who want to absorb the ancient knowledge that has been concertedly kept alive for more than a millennium.
Koodiyattam breathing techniques can give rise to striking new ways of expression even in a contemporary idiom. “The actors were astonished at how the breathing techniques worked on their bodies, and how the breath influences acting,” he says, describing participants at this week’s workshop.
The workshop was focused on “movement, eye-practice, navrasa, breath control, voice training”, all associated with the satvika bhava, one of four important aspects of the technique of expression in classical Sanskrit drama. It deals with an actor’s inner identification with any character, and the manner in which that deep connection might be expressed almost involuntarily by physical expressions.
The strategies employed by Rajaneesh in imparting these processes to contemporary actors were primarily formulated by G Venu, one of the foremost figures in koodiyattam practice. The sessions are certainly invigorating, accompanied with the rousing percussion of mizhavu drummers. Accompanying Rajaneesh on this trip are mizhavu exponents Kalamandalam Ravikumar and Kalamandalam Rahul, who take their shared honorific from their alma mater, the esteemed Kerala Kalamandalam in Cheruthuruthi.
Many Mumbai practitioners, introduced to the form via such workshops, travel to Irinjalakuda for extended stints at the Ammannur Chachu Chakyar Smaraka Gurukulam, the centre of learning where Rajaneesh is an important pedagogue. “The interest in the ‘acting value’ of koodiyattam is certainly slowly spreading,” he says.
Swan song
After Sugreeva’s Saturday showing, Studio Tamaasha’s swan song will be an evening of live music and cultural exchange. The ‘concert of performances’, Soul brings together some of Mumbai theatre’s most talented actor-singers, or ‘double threats’, as they are known for their rare combination of histrionic and crooning skills. According to the the blurb, Soul features a “contemporary rendering of music from the Bhakti and Sufi traditions that challenges, provokes and elevates.”
It was first performed, in a nascent form, at the opening of the Studio two years ago. While this iteration marks a full circle not entirely propitiously, its journey has borne witness to the fact that Studio Tamaasha was an idea whose time had come.
Sugreeva will be performed on February 23 at 7.30 p.m. and Soul will be performed on February 24 at 6 p.m.; see bookmyshow.com for details