Kathakali

Only after 28 years of my existence, I could appreciate the grandeur and entertainement of kathakali as an art form. And that too, after living in Kerala for the initial 22 years! I began enjoying kathakali by watching Doordarshan’s Malayalam channel. The channel would air performances with subtitles that helped understand and appreciate the dance better.
I came across this interesting memoir on kathakali today. After reading it, I thought I should list some info (not technical, but sources of info) I have on this magnificent dance form on my blog. I hope it will be useful for novices like me.

Anita Nair’s Mistress is one of the finest books published recently by Indian authors, writing in English. Though there are some research overheads related to kathakali and history of Ceylon, this book walks us through the nuances of rigorous training routines, the details of makeup, performances and stories (especially of Nalan and Damayanti which is juxtaposed with the lead characters, effortlessly). The novel also treats the subject of dilution of the art form, which is currently happening in Kerala and elsewhere in the world– marketed as tourism promotions. I have seen a board near Fort Kochi Junkar jetty, announcing daily kathakali shows for tourists (I am not sure of the authenticity of the organization which runs the show or the quality of these performances.)
In the novel, the protagonist, Koman explains the difference between appreciating a popular art form and a classical art form. I don’t remember the exact words, but the essence was that the more effort you put in understanding and appreciating a classical art form leaves you with more amusement and enjoyment, than the ephemeral pleasures you get from popular art.

I havent got a chance to watch Shaji N Karun’s Vaanaprastham. Though I came across the DVD, I didn’t pick it up as I want to watch this movie on a big screen which would definitely be spectacular! I am still waiting for a film festival, somewhere, to screen this movie.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan, another kathakali connoisseur, might have lost it to Shaji N Karun for making a Feature based on kathakali, as Shaji gave might have given it a shot before him. Adoor would definitely have had a pet feature project on kathakali in his mind. He filmed a documentary on Kalamandalam Gopi (I haven’t watched this one too) and this would a treat for all kathakali enthusiasts. (Also, I read that Pune Film institute has announced a project of releasing all works of Adoor on DVD and we hope that this documentary is also on the list!)

I am listing some of the sources of information on Kathakali, which I have found useful:

Ernakulam Kathakali club is a reputed organization which conducts monthly shows at Ernakulam temple. I wish they had better cooling arrangements for the auditorium and mosquito repellents, especially for the annual shows which runs all night through.They give handouts of the plot printed in English and Malayalam which definitely helps to understand the katha.

Margi, Thiruvananthapuram has released a DVD of a performance of Kalyanasougandhikam. It is available in the Music Worlds and PlanetMs in India. Or buy online. I own this DVD and is an excellent way to get started - it grows on you as you watch it over and again. They also have DVDs of other dance forms like mohiniyattom and bharathanatyam.

The Kerala Kalamandalam, the prestigious and premier institute for Kathakali and other performing arts, gives info of the campus and syllabus on their website.

PS: The kathakali motif has been abused to a great extend by our tourism department, ad guys - commercials which show kathakali motifs range from Computers to Washing powders!- and priyadarshanesque song and dance sequences in movies. So, I decided not to put the picture of a kathaklai vesham on my blog and I came across this stunning photograph of kathakali students by a National Geographic photographer. I don’t have copy rights of this photo – pls don’t sue me!

4-movie Easter weekend

Try lending a DVD from Blockbuster in the US: You need to produce your US drivers license and a credit card even before you can look at the DVDs on the racks! And the late fees can kill, that you end up buying those DVDs. Netflix was a blessing, for the late fee part.

Now, I am here in Munich (in Germany, not the ones in US) and visited a DVD lending store near my hotel. In 10 minutes, I walked out with 4 DVDs (just 2 EUR rent each) with no deposit at all! It was a refreshing change from the ID and plastic driven contracts of the US.

So, here are the movies I watched over the Easter weekend:

Adapatation
Dir: Spike Jonze
Written by: Charlie Kaufman

The expansion of GNU (of the open-source league) is "GNU's Not Unix". This recursive stuff fascinated me, then. Like the Ouroboros. Snake thats eating its own tail. And Charlie Kaufman is one who makes a living out of this! Remember how John Malkovich enters his own portal in Being John Malkovich.
I picked this movie from the DVD rental store as I wanted to watch something I had not heard much about - about the plot or even knowing whether it was a hit or not or what the critics think about it. The only thing I knew about this movie was the director Spike Jonze and later the opening credits showed that the script was written by Charlie Kaufman (of Being John Malkovich).
The movie starts off from the sets of the movie Being John Malkowich showing real life characters (Malkovich, John Cusack etc.) and Kaufman himself (played by Nicholas Cage), who is the narrator and protagonist. Its a mix of real life characters and fiction and the movie is about making of the movie itslef - a bit complex to write this down:)
Its innovative, engrossing and refreshing. And its about flowers too.

Sideways
Dir: Alexander Payne

Thanks Aj again, for reccomending this! :)
It is interesting that the friends in this movie (Miles-Jack) and in The Big Lebowski (Dude-Walter) are so different in their behaviour and interests (except for one - bowling and golf!), they even hate each other for most of the things the other guy does, still they are buddies and always together.
Maybe I should buy a DVD.

Melinda and Melinda
Written and Directed by Woody Allen

Decided to check out a 00's movie of Woody Allen. This is much on the beaten track on how the plot can be made into a comedy or a tragedy, with both the stories running in parallel. Allen manages to keep us alert and entertained through out. The whole movie is about affairs, breakups and all kind of relationships and this would have looked like a TV soap, if it had been made by a lesser film maker. Allens gets the right characters, dialogue and the right music in!

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
Dir: Michel Gondry
Written by: Charlie Kaufman

Another Charlie Kaufman movie for the weekend. So, you all know what this movie is about. One good thing about this movie is that there are no technical eplanantions or jargons thrown out like other sci-fi movies. And this is no sci-fi movie either. Its a bit complex like Memento (the sequence), and I am not really into these kind of movies, but I enjoyed watching this.

Allen movies: Part 1

I wanted to write about the movies of Woody Allen on my blog soon after I finished watching September. Then I got this urge to write after watching Zelig. Now that I watched Hannah and her sisters last night, I have to write about it!

After watching Annie Hall back in 2003, I never came across any of Woody Allen movies. When Aj told me that he has bought a DVD box set of Woody Allen, I wondered whether he had made so many movies! And when the DVDs arrived, I started watching them one by one and the first couple of movies were the typical Allen ones, with the characters that comes to your mind when you think of him. Sleepers, Shadows and fog and Love and Death.

Shadows and fog had a mega star cast (J. Malkowich, William H. Macy, Madonna!) and the character of John Cusack was memorable. Sleepers was a satire on society and there's very little I remember from Love and Death.

For me September was the real shocker. I never expected such a serious, emotional-high-voltage drama from Woody Allen. The movie was shot in just one location (studio, maybe) inside a big house where the story takes place. Later I read somewhere that Allen actually filmed the movie again, from beginning to end, changing the cast - and it didn't cost much to the production house!

Much has been written about Manhattan. You can find them here, here and here (I cant insert those hyperlinks!:)

Zelig revealed the real genius of Woody Allen to me. A mockumentary, this was an audacious attempt to film the funny story of a person who transformed into the person whom he met. He became a doctor when he spoke to a doctor. The movie had some original footages and in the beginning of the movie I thought it is a real documentary - with those footages of Scot Fitzgerald et al.

Everything you wanted to know about sex.. and Bananas were laugh out loud funny. Another woman was a dissection of emotions, much in the league of serious movies of Allen, with a superb performance by the lead actor (Gena Rowlands as Marion Post).

What struck me about Interiors was that throughout the sensitive drama there was no background score and the scene where a record is played, that was the most dramatic scene of the movie!
Radio days was beautiful and I wonder how he could make a movie out of that! It is just about growing up with radio, events related to the broadcasts and events about radio personalities!

Broadway Danny Rose proved that Allen can do serious roles too. He really made me sympathize with the character.
I remember this funny dialogue from the movie:
Tina is talking about her husband:
Tina: They shot him in the eyes.
Danny: Oh my God, he's blind?
Tina: He's dead...
Danny: Of course, the bullets would go right through...
:)

Alice had one of those catchy background scores. Someday I should dig up those IMDB archives to figure out the musicians and tracks Allen has featured in his movies.

Hannah and her Sisters, I should say, is the perfect and most fulfilling Woody Allen movie I have watched so far. It has Manhattan, Allen in his typical role, laugh out loud jokes, emotions, affairs, great background score, literary references, search for God, meaning of life, ace performances, Thanks giving dinner...
Manhattan is beautifully captured in the movie, that I am sure it wont look that beautiful in real! The river, city streets and even the architecture. Michael Caine gives a splendid performance (Guess he won an Oscar for supporting role - I'd like to see all the nominations and wins of all these movies on IMDB, someday).
Another surprise I got from the closing credits was that John Turturo had a small role in the movie. I scanned through the DVD and found that its a 1 minute role as a script writer for TV. The music is so beautiful in the movie, that if I come across the soundtrack in any music store, I'll just grab it!

I have a bunch of DVDs more to go, before I post part 2 of this and start watching those movies again!