KOZHIKODE: The role of Arjuna in Kottayam Thampuran’s Aattakkatha ‘Kalakeyavadham’ remains a favourite among contestants even after a decade and this was proved once again at school arts festival as three of the six contestants in Kathakali (HS-boys) chose to portray Arjuna on the opening day.
Also, most Kathakali participants (HS-girls and HSS-boys & girls) are gearing up to perform Arjuna’s role for different Padams of the same Aattakkatha in the coming days.
On day one, while some contestants selected Arjuna’s sequence titled ‘Vijayanahamitha’, others chose the sequence ‘Kudilatha Akatharil’. When Devanand J of Government Model HSS Ambalappuzha, Shyam M of Puliyaparamb High School in Palakkad secured A-grade for their portrayal of Arjuna, Athuljith of Thiruvangoor HSS Kozhikode managed to get a B.
He has approached the higher appeal committee to review his grade. Other participants performed Uthara Swayamvaram and Rugmini Swayamvaram and they secured an A-grade. Renowned Kathakali artist Kalamandalam Premkumar, who trained many participants, said students are regularly choosing the role of Arjuna in Kalakeyavadham because that role is easy to impress judges though it is not an easy one to learn.
“The trend still remains unchanged as many participants, including my disciples, are going to perform the same role in the coming days under different categories,” he said. Kalamandalam Venkitaraman, who trained over 10 participants in Kathakali for this edition of the festival, said Arjuna’s role is considered as a test of the participant’s acting skill and there are lots of opportunities to use several mudras in the portions of Aattakkatha.
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