Pantula Rama: A journey of pitch-perfect exploration           

Sivapriya Krishnan

Pantula Rama, a respected vocalist in the Carnatic music milieu, is endowed with a robust, mildly husky, yet pliant and melodious voice. Her voice moves with ease across octaves and travels into realms of audacious creative imagination, exploring a distinctive path through alapana, swara kalpana and chic lyrical presentation. Her music reflects depth and carries with it a quiet confidence and poise that comes only from years of engagement with the art. Whether she renders an oft-heard composition, explores a rare raga, or presents a complex ragam-tanam-pallavi, her music is thoughtful and effortless. Rama’s performances are marked by focus and balance, sustaining the listener’s interest throughout. Having begun her training at an early age, she has continued her musical journey for over four decades. For her, life and music have always been intertwined — a single journey of exploration and expression.

Early years

Rama was born on 27 October 1972, in Maruteru in West Godavari district, her maternal grandmother’s village. Her father, Pantula Gopala Rao, was deeply passionate about music and served as an engineer in the All-India Radio (AIR). Her mother, Pantula Padmavati, was a veena artist.  Even now, at 82, after retirement, he teaches music. Her guru, Ivaturi Vijayeswara Rao and her father were friends.

Soon after Rama’s birth, her father was transferred to All India Radio, Calicut. There, he learnt of a vacancy for a staff artist and helped Ivaturi Rao secure the position, making him both a colleague and a neighbour. Rama spent the first four years of her life in Calicut, surrounded by music. The two families often came together for musical discussions and informal singing sessions, and it was in this atmosphere that Rama began absorbing music almost instinctively. Even as a toddler, she would repeat musical phrases, and by the age of two, she could sing complete songs. Recognising her interest, her father requested Ivaturi Rao to guide her formally. However, Ivaturi Rao felt it was too early for structured training and preferred that her gift evolve naturally. He also believed that exposure to the public could wait until she had matured through steady learning and discipline.

COVER STORY

G. Venu : A journey of passion and perseverance                             

Tapati Chowdhurie

Gopal Venu, born on 1 July 1945, belongs to a family of artists. Living in a small thatched house on top of a hill with rolling paddy fields on all sides, he spent a charming childhood in a pristine rural locality. While in his fifth grade, a turning point in his life came when he saw the Kathakali drama Narakasuravadham. It ignited his desire to enter the world of Kathakali.  His subsequent journey in Kathakali found him taking lessons from guru Gopinath, whom he revered from his boyhood days.

Venu had seen Ammannur Madhava Chakyar’s performance in the Trichur Koothambalam. He realised that Kerala’s abhinaya tradition was still alive in Koodiyattam. At first, Venu took on the role of a research scholar in Koodiyattam, with only informal training in the art form, but soon realised that he wanted to become a Koodiyattam artist. He stopped all his other activities, and in his 37^th year he set out to learn Koodiyattam. “It was not easy to set aside a busy professional career as an artist I had painstakingly built and become a full-time student. I had to forego a fairly decent monthly salary and other regular income. But when I started enjoying my training under stalwarts like guru Ammannur Madhava Chakyar and guru Parameswara Chakyar I realised that my decision was most appropriate and timely. In those days there were very few people to learn and watch Koodiyattam. I entered this field at a time when even the Chakyars had given up on their family tradition saying that it would not help them make a living”, he said.

G. Venu’s most significant contribution to the dance world is his monumental book Mudra – The Language of Koodiyattam, Kathakali and Mohiniyattam – The Classical Theatre and Dances of Kerala, published by his institution, Natanakairali: Research and Performing Centre for Traditional Arts, Kerala. This 744-page volume, released in March 2023, documents 1341 hand gestures with detailed notations—an invaluable compendium that will endure even if oral and guru-shishya traditions fade.

COVER STORY

Kapila Venu: A presence beyond words                         

Jagyaseni Chatterjee

Twenty years ago, in 2005, in Powai, Mumbai, I witnessed Koodiyattam for the first time. A short-statured woman sat on a wooden stool, her face illuminated by the flame of a brass lamp, the sounds of the mizhavu echoing in the room. She transformed before our eyes — as a tiger emerging from the dense forest.

The room fell silent in absolute awe. The artist was Kapila Venu, the contemporary face of Koodiyattam, an ancient theatre tradition – the daughter of G. Venu, Koodiyattam exponent, and Nirmala Paniker, senior Mohini Attam artist.

Born into a celebrated artistic family, Kapila has carved her own path with clarity and commitment. Her growing period as an artist coincided with UNESCO recognising Koodiyattam as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” in 2001.

If you chance upon any of her performances, even the resplendent jewels and elaborate attire of Koodiyattam dissolve, leaving only the imprints of her commanding presence as an artist in complete focus and character. And yet, offstage, in her simple Kerala sari, she stands as a composed, soft-spoken, and deeply reflective individual. In Kapila, one witnesses the equilibrium of fire and stillness, an artist who broke barriers with authenticity and excellence.

A disciple of Koodiyattam maestro Ammannur Madhava Chakyar and the renowned exponent Usha Nangiar, and her father, G. Venu, Kapila is an internationally acclaimed Koodiyattam artist. Over the years, she has collaborated with several internationally renowned artists and scholars and associated with leading academic institutions.

She serves as a guest lecturer at the National School of Drama in New Delhi and as a Master Teacher at the Intercultural Theatre Institute in Singapore. Her training in abhinaya continues under G. Venu and Kitangur Rama Chakyar. She is a participant in the Abhinaya Kalari (acting laboratory) at Natanakairali, aimed at exploring netrabhinaya (the role of the eyes in evoking emotions) and hastabhinaya (the language of hand gestures). She is trained in Kalaripayattu under Vallabhatta Vishwanathan Gurukkal and Balan Gurukkal and Kathakali music under Kalamandalam Narayanan Embranthiri.

CLASS ACT

T.S. Nandakumar: A life in rhythm                                

Lakshmi Ramamurthy

With a career spanning over five decades, mridangam vidwan T.S. Nandakumar (TSN) began his musical journey in Bombay before moving to the United States, where he is now based in New Jersey. Affectionately known as ‘TSN Sir’ to his students and ‘Bombay Nandakumar’ among fellow musicians, he has shared the stage with many of India’s distinguished artists.

Born on 17 March 1958, into a family steeped in music—his uncles were the well-known Ambalapuzha Brothers—Nandakumar was drawn to rhythm early in life. Growing up near temple precincts, where his father worked with the Devaswom Board, he was surrounded by the sounds of Carnatic music and percussion. Inspired by the temple kutcheris and the performances of great mridangam and tavil vidwans, he began his training at the age of four under mridangam vidwan Kaithavana Madhavadas.

After several decades in Bombay, during which he worked closely with leading sabhas such as Shanmukhananda Fine Arts, Chembur Fine Arts, Music Triangle, Naadalaya Fine Arts, and Ganakala Vidya Nilayam, Nandakumar moved to the United States in 2008. Having already spent time teaching and performing there in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he saw in the move an opportunity to reach wider audiences and nurture the next generation of students abroad.

As a composer, Nandakumar has created several works including Jewels of Rhythm (Volumes 1, 2, and 3), Vibrative Rhythms, and has authored books such as Roots of Mridangam and Intricacies of Mridangam. In 1998, he founded the TSN Percussive Arts Centre (TSNPAC), an institution dedicated to music education and performance. Through TSNPAC, he continues to mentor students, organise concerts, and collaborate with musicians across India and abroad.