Out of the shadows

 

Filmmaker Saheer Ali’s documentary on Tholpavakoothu (shadow puppetry) portrays the dismal state of the 2000-year-old art form

By Shevlin Sebastian

When documentary filmmaker Saheer Ali was shooting his documentary on the 2000-year-old art form, Tholpavakoothu, called ‘Nizhal Yathrikan’ (Shadow Traveller — A Puppeteer’s Tale), he came across an unforgettable scene.

It was 9 pm. There were another two hours for the Tholpavakoothu performance to begin at a Bhagavathy Devi temple in Palakkad, Kerala

Ramachandran Pulavar, one of the greatest artists of the art form and a Padma Shri Award winner, was sleeping on a mat. This was under a tree in a field. “Mollywood stars rest in air-conditioned caravans,” said Saheer. “This gives you an idea of the sad situation of the art form. I felt despondent when I saw that. These artists don’t get any facilities. Society should cherish them.”

Saheer said that society does not have much interest in art. “Earlier, people would flock to see plays and dramas,” said Saheer, who runs a drama troupe called ‘Keli’. “Now the audience has dwindled.”

The performances begin late at night and continue till 5 a.m. “They are paying homage to Devi,” said Saheer. “There is almost no audience for the entire show. There will be a few people at the beginning. After a while, they will drift away.”

But the Pulavar family is undeterred. They carry on. It is a devotion. They get paid a few hundred rupees for a performance. This is only during the festival season, which starts at the end of December and concludes at the end of May.

“Indeed, there is not much revenue,” said Ramachandra. “But we are lifelong devotees of the art form. So, we must remain dedicated. If we give up, Tholpavakoothu will die. That will be the most painful to watch. So, irrespective of the financial difficulties, we will continue to support it.”

When the season is over, the Pulavars cultivate the land and nurture cows at their farm at Palakkad. But because of climate change, global warming, and fewer workers, it has become difficult to do farming.

The 27-minute documentary begins with a scene where Ramachandra is paying homage at the tomb of his father, K.L. Krishnan Kutty Pulavar. His father was the eighth generation practitioner of the art form. It was he who taught Ramachandra about the art form.

The art form uses theatre, dance, visual arts and music. And they tell stories from Tamil poet Kamba’s version of the Ramayana.

The stage is 42 feet long. Behind the stage is a screen. This is made of white cloth. They place the puppets behind it. For the lighting, the team places 21 lamps behind the puppets. This causes the shadows to appear on the screen.

The puppets were earlier made of deerskin. But nowadays, the family uses goat or buffalo skin.

First, someone removes the hair. Then, they dry the skin. After that, an artist outlines the character. Then, they cut it out and paint it with vegetable colours.

The language spoken is a mix of Tamil, Sanskrit and Malayalam. The instruments used are the traditional drums, cymbals, and gongs.

The movements are manipulated by sticks extending from the figures. The filigreed puppets appear on the screen.

There is a fight between Jatayu and Ravana; another conflict is between Bali and Sugreeva. In between, birds are flying, while an elephant rumbles across, apart from rabbits, squirrels and a deer. There is the sound of a tree falling. Lord Hanuman comes along, apart from Lord Rama and Sita. And on and on, the characters come and go.

Incidentally, Saheer’s daughter, Fabi, has written the script. She has just completed her MA in Malayalam from Maharaja’s College, Kochi. The producer is Ramachandra’s second son, Rahul.

To attract a new audience, Ramachandra has diversified from the Ramayana. So he did a play on Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus Christ. “The artists have also done plays about the dangers of alcohol, women’s safety, and throwing garbage on the streets,” said Saheer.

And the second generation is stepping up. In 2016, Ramachandra’s eldest son Rajeev Pulavar won the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar Award. The Sangeet Natak Akademi gives this for outstanding artists below 40.

His younger son Rahul is doing research on Tholpavakoothu through a fellowship at the University of Connecticut, USA. He is also doing his doctorate in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies. Ramachandra’s daughter Rajitha has become a performer. His wife Rajalakshmi has won a central government fellowship to research Tholpavakoothu.

They screened a preview in Kochi on July 5. A select crowd was invited. The family is trying to get it released at the International Film Festival of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram in December 2024. They are also trying to get it screened at other international festivals. They want to go on the festival circuit to spread knowledge of the art form across the world.

During the release function, Padma Shri Mattanoor Sankaran Kutty, a leading percussionist on the chenda (drum), praised the fact that the director was a Muslim. When there is such an intense effort to create polarisation, he said, this will help bring people together.

Sanskrit scholar and former vice chancellor of the Kerala Kalamandalam KG Paulose said that he had seen many performances, but it was only through the documentary he got a deeper understanding of the art form.

How Saheer got involved, he had worked as an associate on Mollywood actor P. Balachandran’s film, ‘Ivan Megharoopan’ (2012). This is a film based on the life of Malayalam poet P. Kunhiraman Nair. In the movie, there was a sequence of Tholpavakoothu.

As a result, Saheer became close to Ramachandra and his family. And when the family wanted to make a documentary, they immediately called on Saheer. They knew Saheer would draw on his experience of being associated with the Malayalam film industry for over 25 years.

A bit of history. In 1996, the International Film Festival of Kerala was being staged in Thiruvananthapuram for the first time. Noted director G. Aravindan told festival director Shaji N Karun about using a still from the Tholpavakoothu play, ‘Lanka Lakshmi’, as the logo for the festival. Saheer said, “It shows Lakshmi looking graceful after a curse on her was lifted by the touch of Hanuman.” The festival continues to use the same logo.

(An edited version was published in The Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)