Secrets of 'rasa'

Magical movements

Yes, kathakali is a difficult art form, but that’s where dancers’ enjoyment of their art lies,” Hari Padman, star bharata-natyam and kathakali dancer, says with a smile.

We meet at the beautiful Koothambalam — Kalakshetra’s auditorium — where practice sessions are on for Kalakshetra’s annual kathakali festival. This year, the theme is ‘Bhava Bhavanam Vyvidhya’. In fact, this year, Hari’s son will also be performing, taking on the mantle of Prahlada. As the proud father watches on, the toddler dances sweetly, doing all the whirls and swirls that kathakali is known for. “He is not into regular training, as I don’t want to push him into dance. He is only practising for this particular performance. But I think he has the rhythm for it,” says Hari.

Curiously, the world has come to see this slightly built, soft-spoken dancer as awe-inspiring Hanuman, who epitomises might, devotion, valour, righteousness and so many other rasas, from his excellent portrayal of the deity in Rukmini Devi Arundale’s iconic dance drama Ramayanam. “Everyone’s conception of Hanuman is of someone huge and mighty, but athai’s (Rukmini Devi Arundale’s) vision of Hanuman went beyond might. When I was chosen to play Hanuman, it was like being entrusted with a big responsibility. I don’t know how far I succeeded in fulfilling that — nobody can judge their own performance. But the feedback from my gurus has been good,” he says. Balagopalan, who had portrayed Hanuman in Ramayanam earlier on, was the one who trained Hari to essay the character.

Essence of art

It is the audience that typecasts him as Hanuman, Hari observes wryly, adding that he enjoys playing the characters. “I feel these roles are gifts that Kalakshetra gave me. It is not talent that got these roles for me. Of course, some characters stay on with you more than others, striking a chord,” he muses. Like portraying Bharata this year. He says, “It takes a lot of bhava and a lot of energy to play Bharata. My father couldn’t watch me play Bharata as he was hospitalised. And I lost my father last December. It has left a deep emotional scar, and now, playing Bharata takes me close to him,” the artiste explains.

So, do all these mighty characters that he plays stay on in him, leaving a residue? “Sometimes, during a performance, you are flown to a different realm for a fraction of a second; you touch it and come back. It can’t be explained too well, it has to be experienced. It is rasa, after all,” he shares. And some moments bring out a revelation. For instance, on finding Seeta in Lanka, Hanuman is overjoyed and offers to lift the entire Lanka and fly with her to Rama. But Seeta wishes Rama to come and rescue her and establish dharma. “Hanuman understands then that might is not everything, and there is something beyond strength. It is a subtle moment, and in that moment, I, as a performer, touch sattvika vinaya and come back,” he muses.

That particular scene is a treat to take in. So is the whole of Rukmini Devi’s Ramayanam, for that matter. “Athai was obviously extremely creative. It is not just athai though. Her entire team was so creative. Which is why her choreography of Ramayanam has come out so well,” he reflects.

Hari is now known to be among the finest dancer-choreographers of bharatanatyam and kathakali. Hari reckons that his experience of kathakali has helped him feel and understand the depth of the characters portrayed, whether it is Hanuman or Rama or Vali or any other character. In some of his own choreographies, Hari consciously tries not to mix the two.

“But sometimes unconsciously, elements of either do creep into each other,” he concedes. And sometimes, the mixing is intentional. For instance, Hari’s own choreography of the Ramayanam incorporates bharatanatyam, mohiniattam, odissi and kathakali, and has come to carry a charm of its own. In his Ramayanam, set to Swati Tirunal’s ‘Bhaavayaami Raghu Ramam’, Hari gives all his eight dancers the challenge and the opportunity to be seen as Rama, and all of them go through many characters. This ended up being a treat and a challenge at the same time for the dancers and the audience alike, as they get to read the character from the abhinaya and the rasa of the dancer, rather than from his or her costume.

Changing times

Hari also prefers not to comment on the classical but free-flowing dance form of artistes including Padmini Chettur, Preethi Athreya or Jayachandra, saying, “It is their creative work”. Bharat-anatyam has transitioned from temples to auditoriums, and from myth to modern stories. Who knows what the future will bring, he questions.

Hari himself has been part of cross-cultural collaborations, having been the dance choreographer for Ethno Techno project, with live sitar music, Swedish classical music and recorded mridangam tracks. “We did about 20 shows over two years in Sweden and Denmark. I wish I had continued with it at least in a limited capacity.”

Dance runs in Hari’s blood, so to say. His father Padmanabha Pillai had been running a dance company in Kollam, Kerala, that exposed young Hari not just to dance and choreography, but also make-up, lighting, stage props and all other aspects of dance. Pillai had incidentally
produced 25 ballets based on bharat-anatyam, mohiniattam and kathakali traditions. And of course, Pillai and his wife, dancer Vasantha, trained their son in dance, and Hari’s first performance was at the age of five. Later, Hari trained under his aunt ‘Kalamandalam’ Kamala, and thereafter, completed the diploma and post-diploma course at Kalakshetra, besides a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in fine arts in bharatanatyam from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu.

“It was my father’s dream to send me to Kalakshetra, and now, here I am,” says an emotional Hari. He considers that the challenge and the holy obligation for the current crop of dancers of this famed institution is to keep this essence alive and undiluted, and pass it on to the next generation. He points out, “Bhava and laya cannot be stored in books. It is a tradition and a knowledge that has to be transmitted from person to person, like how the Vedas once were. It is a living legacy.”

Next on the anvil is a production on Saraswati as a river and as a goddess. “Imagine. Saraswati had once flowed through Rajasthan and Haryana, making these places lush like Kerala. Now these regions are arid. Saraswati is all the more relevant now, don’t you think?” he asks, adding that a dancer has to not just observe, but be one with nature.