JOIN USStunning moves steal hearts
Leela Samson, a distinguished bharatanatyam dancer and Sadanam Balakrishnan, a renowned kathakali guru, were in the City recently for a kathakali presentation at the Ranga Shankara.
Needless to say, they succeeded to steal the hearts of many art-lovers through their magical performance. Amidst their busy schedule, the great artistes shared their love for the arts with Metrolife.
Leela Samson, a recipient of ‘Padmashri’ and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, admits that she is attracted by the beauty of bharatanatyam. “The art itself has the capacity to attract people. I had a great interest in classical arts when I was a kid. I developed a respect for it and got trained under great gurus like Shankar Menon and Rukmini Devi Arundale at Kalakshetra, a training centre for performing arts in Chennai,” says Leela who currently heads Kalakshetra.
Reminiscing the good old days, Leela says, “When I joined Kalakshetra as a student, it was a small place and only a few people were there. All the gurus were stalwarts and role models for us. We used to get an insight about everything under the sun. Along with the art, they taught us the way of life too.”
Being the director of the institution, she says that challenges are aplenty. “Kalakshetra too has the same kind of problems like any other institution. We have a shortage of dedicated and full time teachers. We find it difficult to select interested students and choose them for scholarships. We have to ensure all the facilities for the students within our financial constraints,” she explains.
Apart from that, Leela is the chairperson of Sangeet Nataka Academy and also the Central Board of Film Certification. She feels that it is difficult to manage all the things simultaneously and among all, she feels heading CBFC is a herculean task.
“As Indian cinema deals with the sensibilities of the audience, we have to be cautious while certifying a film. Many film-makers and producers are not happy with the restrictions suggested by the board. I feel it is a difficult job to judge and certify a cinema,” she says.
Sadanam Balakrishnan is a known name in the kathakali fraternity. His performances were well received by the audiences when he adapted Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ and ‘Macbeth’ to kathakali. Speaking about his experiment, he feels that epic and mythological characters provide enough scope for traditional art forms beyond regional boundaries.
Now he is working on adapting Helen, another Greek epic character to kathakali.
He feels that the number of dedicated students is decreasing these days. “Today’s generation wants everything in a short period of time. Traditional arts like kathakali can’t be learnt in one or two years. It needs total dedication and passion for the art. The youngsters feel it is a wastage of time and money and many ask us what will they get in return,” he says.
But he is confident that these classical art forms will last long. “All the Indian art forms have survived all the struggle from thousands of years and they will remain intact for another thousand years. Thanks to the efforts of many passionate artistes, Indian art forms are getting global recognition,” he signs off.