Malayalam poems make a jump from school texts to the screen

KOCHI: As schools have moved online, teachers are racking their brains to keep students engaged with virtual lessons. Showing them a way through what seems like an impossible task, noted music director O K Ravisankar has come up with artistic visualisation of Malayalam poems.Ravisankar has uploaded half a dozen videos on YouTube and his Facebook page which have become popular among children. “I had started working on the videos even before the online classes were launched. But I couldn’t find a sponsor then. Now, with the launch of virtual education, such visualisation has become a necessity,” he said.  

Mar Gregorios Memorial (MGM) Schools Group chaired by Geevarghese Yohannan has commissioned Ravisankar for visualising all poems in the CBSE Malayalam textbooks from Classes I to X.The completed videos include Cherusseri’s ‘Krishnagadha’, Kumaran Asan’s ‘Chandalabhikshuki’, Ramapurathu Warrier’s ‘Vanchippattu’ and Ezhuthachan’s ‘Lakshmanopadesham’. Every video begins with a teacher introducing the poem to the students. Then come the singer and dancer. The dancer makes rhythmic movements in the backdrop of an animated screen which, according to Ravisankar, makes it more attractive to the children.

Besides the song and music, there is a brief session in which a celebrity speaks about the poem. Renowned lyricist and music director Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri delivers the talk on ‘Krishnagadha’ while ‘Chandala Bhikshuki’ is introduced by Kadhaprasangam maestro Ayilam Unnikrishnan. “Ayilam Unnikrishnan was roped in since ‘Chandala Bhikshuki’ is his masterpiece. Be it Kaithapram or Ayilam, students and even elders will listen to them carefully,” explains Ravisankar.

The ‘Kuttippattam’ in the Class 11 textbook is presented by its author C P Pallippuram himself. Music and rendering of all poems are by Ravisankar. The dancers are Aparna Nandakumar, Archana Anup, Sruthi Gopan, Archana Raj and Asha, all teachers of MGM Schools. Other aritsts are Arjun Gopan (orchestration), Sunish Bensun (sound mixing)and Abhi Truevision (camera). The visualisation of all videos will be completed in a month, Ravisankar said.