![\"Kalamandalam](\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/theme\/images\/th-online\/1x1_spacer.png\" "\\"Kalamandalam")
<\/picture><\/div>\nWhen Kalamandalam Krishnakumar joined Kalakshetra in Chennai as a teacher, the young Kathakali artiste had to unlearn a few things to meet the institution\u2019s requirement as a part-time Bharatanatyam dancer. This exposure came in handy when Krishnakumar next got posted at his alma mater in Cheruthuruthy, not far from his native village in central Kerala.<\/p>\n
\u201cI taught Kathakali till my retirement in 2018, but on stage I sometimes found Bharatanatyam footwork and movements suited better the characters I portrayed,\u201d he says, citing charming Kacha\u2019s bonding with Devayani in her father Shukracharya\u2019s ashram or sage Vishwamitra giving lessons on abhinaya to the Rati-Virati duo in Harischandracharitam<\/i>. <\/p>\n
This is Krishnakumar\u2019s 50th year in Kathakali. Through the journey, he has constantly reinvented himself and his art. He moved from the folksy Ayyappanpattu to Kathakali and from the southern school of Kathakali to the northern.<\/p>\n
![\"Krishnakumar](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/y9y22q\/article68396795.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/19frkrishnakumar2.jpg\" "\\"Krishnakumar")
<\/div>\n\nKrishnakumar is the first full-fledged Kathakali artiste in his family
\n| Photo Credit:
\nSpecial Arrangement\n<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n \u201cAs a teenager, I had no clue about the stylistic differences between the two streams,\u201d says Krishnakumar. I made the change because the lone teacher of the southern style, Madavoor Vasudevan Nair, used to be busy with night-long shows.\u201d <\/p>\n Influential guru Ramankutty Nair accepted Krishnakumar\u2019s request and sent him to Padmanabhan Nair to learn the northern (Kalluvazhi) methodology. Krishnakumar also trained under Vazhenkada Vijayan and Kalamandalam Gopi. The training lasted for almost a decade, after which he realised a dearth of opportunities to perform. <\/p>\n \u201cI began to play the harmonium for a teacher. I wanted to learn the instrument since my friends told me it could fetch a job abroad.\u201d Krishnakumar then came to know about the vacancy for a Kathakali tutor in Kalakshetra. He applied and landed the job only to realise that Bharatanatyam was the institution\u2019s mainstay. So he gained know-how about the dance form\u2019s repertoire. <\/p>\n \nKrishnakumar has performed all major roles. <\/div>\n At this point of time, Krishnakumar\u2019s batch-mate Kalamandalam Vijayakumar and make up artiste Barbara of Manchester invited him to perform at events at their institute in the U.K. This meant taking long breaks from teaching. Eventually, he quit his job in Kalakshetra and went back to Kerala. <\/p>\n In 1990, Kalamandalam appointed Krishnakumar to its Kathakali department, which he later went on to head when the institution became a deemed university. The three decades that Krishnakumar spent there he had a huge number of disciples and performances across the state and outside the country. \u201cI have performed all the major hero and anti-hero characters, but I don\u2019t quite like playing the villainous red-bearded roles. I have shared platforms with exponents of both schools of Kathakali. Over the years, I have realised the art form should adapt to contemporary sensibilities,\u201d says Krishnakumar, who is now reviving his connect with Ayyappanpattu, which he learnt as a young boy from his father Achuthan Nair. Incidentally, Achuthan briefly trained in Kathakali when Kalamandalam was in Thiruthiparambu, near his village. <\/p>\n \u201cI think I was destined to become the first full-fledged Kathakali artiste in my family,\u201d says Krishnakumar, running his hand over the hourglass-shaped udukku of his father. \u201cOccasionally, I play this for my grandchild.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Krishnakumar](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/r86w6j\/article68396796.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/19frKrishnakumar3.jpg\" "\\"Krishnakumar")
<\/div>\n
\n| Photo Credit:
\nSpecial Arrangement\n<\/p>\n