Lenin Rajendran going ahead with Raja Ravi Varma movie

Urvashi – Pururavas by Raja Ravi Varma.

(Public Domain, from Wikimedia Commons.)

Lenin Rajendran, a leading Malayalam director has been churning the idea of a movie based on the Royal Painter, Raja Ravi Varma, for a few years now. Earlier he was planning to cast Suresh Gopi in the lead. (See: Raja Ravi Varma: A movie on the Royal Painter)

Now the mantle has fallen on cinematographer-director Santosh Sivan. The lead female role is to be done by Karthika, daughter of Tamil (also Malayalam) actress Radha. The screenplay, written by the director himself, is ready. Madhu Ambat is to handle the camera. Music is by Ramesh Narayan.

The name of the cinema which is to be made in Malayalam is Makara Manju. Makaram is a winter month in the Malayalam calendar. Manju means snow or mist. Therefore an appropriate translation of the title could be Winter Mist.

While Lenin was fine-tuning his project, another movie on Raja Ravi Varma has been completed, in two languages – ‘Rang Rasiya’ in Hindi and ‘Colours of Passion’ in English. The Ketan Mehta production features Randeep Hooda and Nandana Sen. Some media reviews call it a sensual movie.

There was a proposal for a third project on the same subject, in Hindi, with the title ‘Suryamukhi’. I have not been able to ascertain what its current status is. The well-known Malayalam director Shaji N. Karun was to handle it.

But Lenin Rajendran is planning to tell the story from a different, new, angle. It was the Urvashi and Pururavas painting (see image) by Raja Ravi Varma that inspired the director. The touching tale of the love between Urvashi and King Puruvaras provides the background.

Using that setting, Lenin Rajendran plans to present the emotional parting of the painter and Anjali Bhai, his model for Urvashi. This involves the lead players acting double roles. Santosh Sivan has to play the painter and the king, and Karthika, who might have a different screen name, is to act as Urvashi and Anjali Bhai.

One can safely expect a good product from Lenin Rajendran. But when will the movie be ready for exhibition? The plans for shooting are reportedly ready. The locations include Trivandrum, Cochin, Kabani, and Mumbai.

Kerala tidbits

Police & Astrology: End of the story

The Poochakkal Police Station in my native place is again in the news. In the post Police & Astrology: Cowries tell the story I had described how the policemen were resorting to astrology to ward off problems they were facing.

I had expressed the doubt whether the cops had taken permission from higher authorities for bringing an astrologer to the Station and consulting him. The answer for that is in today’s newspapers.

Under instructions from the Director General of Police, the entire police personnel of the Station including the Sub Inspector, Asst. Sub Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables have been transferred to various other Stations.

Now the question is whether this action is a punishment or a boon to those who have been shifted. After all, what they wanted was to escape the bad times the Station was going through.

Mallus have money in their pockets - Minister

According to the Civil Supplies Minister of Kerala, even if prices of food items increase by a couple of rupees, the Keralites don’t bother. They have plenty of money in their pockets. He does not know where the money comes from, though. The Malayalees go to hotels and eat well and don’t bargain about the prices.

Deluge: The floods of ’99

A few decades back if you asked an uneducated person in Kerala his age, the answer might have been that he was born two years after the flood, or something like that. Events were linked to the flood of ’99. For two generations, that was a reference point in time.

Now, the ’99 refers to 1099 ME (Malayalam Era or Kollavarsham; see Mallus, Happy New Year). That calendar is 825 years behind Christian Era. This year is 1185 ME. There is an overlap between the two calendars.

What perhaps was the worst floods in the recent history of Kerala happened in July, 1924. It is said that heavy floods in the Periyar River or some geophysical phenomena in the Arabian Sea, silted or closed the flourishing Kodungalloor (Muziris) port and opened up Cochin in 1341. That appears to have been a localized occurrence.

But the floods of ‘99 covered the erstwhile Travancore and Cochin States and parts of Malabar. (The present Kerala consists the two former princely states mentioned and Malabar area which was under direct British rule. Most of the land was submerged in the three weeks (one account says nine days) of heavy, incessant rain.

Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (1912 – 1999), the famous Malayalam novelist (Chemmeen, Coir etc.) has written a beautiful short story titled ‘In the floods’ which describes the havoc. The author was 12 years old at the time of the disaster. The details would have been etched in his memory. The story starts with the words explaining that the highest point in the village was the temple and even the deity was submerged up to the neck.

The catastrophe resulted in heavy loss of life and property. I have not been able to locate the details. The references are to hundreds of people and thousands of animals perishing. Surprisingly, even the High Ranges were flooded. Munnar, the tea country, which is about 6000 feet above sea level, was one of the worst affected areas.

There was a short light railway from Munnar to Top Station that was set up in 1908. The floods caused severe damage to the tracks and the line was subsequently abandoned. The High Range Club lost its newly built library and the golf course and tennis courts were damaged.

But the Club did gain in one way. After the railway became defunct, the First Class compartment was shifted to the Gymkhana grounds as a bar!

Here is a family anecdote: Just before the floods, Appan (my father) went to Palai for pennukanal (ceremony in which a potential bride is visited) in an improvised houseboat.

Our house is on the highest ground in the area. The boat landing is about half a kilometer away. When Appan returned, the boat had to be tied to the pillars of the gatehouse. The land up to the gatehouse had been submerged. The family shifted up to occupy the first floor of the house and all the local people were accommodated in the ground floor.

Appan. and Ammachi. were married an year after the Floods..

The transformation to Bharathanatyam

Bharathanatyam is a fascinating dance form, whether the presentation is by a single performer or in the form of a dance drama by a group. It has beauty and grace and spiritual value. It is a symbol of India and is admired all over the world.

But, say, about 80 years back, there was no Bharathanatyam as such. In its place was a traditional art form called Sadir which was presented exclusively by Devadasis. ‘The art of the temple harlots’, it was called. It was also referred to as Thanjavur Natyam and Dasiaattam. No Brahmin would have any part of it.

But it was destined that two aristocratic South Indian Brahmins would save the dance form, streamline it and make it into a pride of India.

Sadir performances were mainly confined to temples and private salons. The dancers wore baggy pyjamas and a sari over it, and traditional ornaments. The songs had erotic elements in them. The accompaniments were confined to clarinet and bagpipes. The musicians moved on the stage along with the performer. There was crudeness about the presentation but the basics of the dance were intrinsically beautiful.

During the period Serfoji ruled Tanjavur (1798-1832), the Tanjavur Quartet, four brothers named Ponnayya, Chinnayya, Vadivelu and Sivanadam did commendable work to systematize the sadir. Nevertheless, it remained an exclusive domain of the Devadasis.

By the early part of the 20c CE, sadir came under serious threat. A strong demand arose among the public for abolishing the Devadasi system. Muthulakshmi Reddy, the first woman legislator of the Madras Presidency even introduced a Bill in the Assembly to implement this.

The abolition of the Devadasi system finally came about only in 1947. Fortunately, there was one man who saw the writing on the wall and decided to save the sadir which had commendable qualities – E. Krishna Iyer (1897-1968), a lawyer and freedom fighter.

He learned sadir, and formed the Madras Music Academy. He also coined a new name for the dance form – Bharathanatyam. I understand it is an acronym covering bhava (expression), raga (music) and thala (rhythm). Krishna Iyer included a performance of sadir in the 1933 Annual Conference programme of the Academy.

Among the audience was Rukmini Arundale (1904-1986), respectfully referred to as Rukmini Devi. Her father, Neelakanta Sastri, an upper class Brahmin from Trichy was an engineer. He was attracted by the Theosophical movement, and, after retirement, moved to Adyar near the headquarters of the Theosophical Society. It was there that young Rukmini met the Theosophist Dr. George Arundale. They were married in 1920 when she was 16 and he was 40.

Rukmini Devi was captivated by the dance form that she witnessed at the Academy. She referred to it as ‘beautiful and profound art’. Along with Krishna Iyer, she set on an endeavor of renaissance. The first thing she did was to learn sadir. Her teachers were Mylapore Gowri Amma, a prominent Devadasi of that time, and Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, a famous master.

That was only one part of it. The biggest challenge was to infuse subtle changes that would make the dance form more acceptable and attractive. Rukmini Devi introduced devotional aspects in place of erotica in the songs. The musicians were made to sit on the side of the stage. Regular musical instruments were brought in. With the help of some Theosophists, new costumes were designed and appropriate lighting effects and stage settings were introduced.

And, in 1935, Rukmini Devi herself presented the new version of sadir, Bharathanatyam, at the Theosophical Society grounds in Madras (Chennai), before a distinguished audience that included eminent Indians and foreigners. The conservatives were aghast that a Brahmin lady should present the Devadasi ‘aattam’ and that too in public.

But Rukmini Devi’s performance was aesthetic, spiritual, and enchanting. The renowned gathering was highly impressed. A year later, Rukmini Devi established Kalakshetra, an institution devoted to classical dance, music and fine arts.

And thus began the victorious march of Bharathanatyam.

[Photos: Top - Rukmini Devi. Bottom: Rukmini Devi with her husband in Finland in 1936.

From Wikimedia Commons. Click to enlarge.]

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Dances for the gods.

Photos: Flowers from a Chennai florist

Earlier this month was my birthday. I particularly liked one bouquet received that day.

These are some photos I took of it.

Click to enlarge

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A gated community at Cochin
(Photo: Rejo)

Olavipe Lake
(Photo: AT)

All rights reserved.
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Do some people think the Mallus are dumb?

Yesterday the by-elections to three Kerala State Assembly constituencies, Alleppey, Ernakulam and Kannur, were concluded peacefully.

So what is there to write about?

Well, the Kannur segment attracted national attention. There were accusations of tailored voter list and pro-government bias by officials including the District Collector who is the Election Officer as well. The Congress Party petitioned the Election Commission (EC).

After studying reports from the State the EC replaced the Collector. It also decided to send a contingent of Central paramilitary forces to ensure smooth and fair elections. This is a normal practice in the case of suspected problem constituencies.

Many people were surprised, or even shocked, by the way the Marxist Party reacted to the EC’s action. The Chief Minister himself started the diatribe. According to media reports he said that the Central forces would be confined to the barracks and they would not be able to do anything without the permission of the State police.

The Home Minister, the CPI (M) State General Secretary and other leaders of the party took up the refrain. The EC was also blamed for being partial. The Chief Electoral Officer of The State, an IAS officer of the Kerala cadre promptly issued a clarification that the men in uniform would be deployed at the discretion of the EC. Later the EC also came out with a statement that even the State police would be taking orders from the Election Officer. That is the correct legal position.

The Central forces were posted at the polling booths as decided by the Election Officer. There was record polling in Kannur and no untoward incidents. Many felt that the presence of the paramilitary forces contributed to this. The Left leaders have a contrary view. Their interpretation is that the 'attempt' of the Congress to frighten away voters with gun totting soldiers in the polling booths did not succeed! Politicians are not sensitive to loss of face.

It is difficult to believe that the Chief Minister and the others who attacked the EC were unaware of the established procedure. Then why did they make such apparently wrong statements? Did it amount to taking anticipatory bail for a possible defeat? Or, did they expect to draw more votes with a policy of confrontation with the EC?

If the voters really swallowed the confrontation propaganda one can only say that, contrary to the general belief, they are not really very politically savvy.

We have to wait till Tuesday to get the answer.

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Kerala: Left with empty granaries