Drishya Gopinath: I believe thullal artistes have a responsibility towards their society too

For most people who know about the thullal artforms of Kerala,

ottanthullal

is the be-all and end-all of the artform. The fact that there are also other forms of it, like seethan kanthullal and

parayan thullal

is news to many. Most thullal performers have also restricted themselves to ottanthullal, and just a few popular stories are staged, time and again.

From the age of 11,

Drishya Gopinath

grew up learning thullal from various gurus, and listening to various historical stories surrounding it, from her dad who is a lawyer. The artiste, who is now 26 years old, has made it her mission to bring back these forgotten forms to the midst of people again.

She recently staged parayan thullal in a novel format at Vyloppilly Samskriti Bhavan in Thiruvanan-thapuram, lining up the messages from a variety of stories by Kunjan Nambiar and the rarely-told story Nalayani Charitham. The much-appreciated performance had the artiste presenting the story to the audience too, in advance. “Thanks to its visual appeal, ottanthullal wins more stages. However, the other forms have their own charm and there are also many stories by Nambiar that aren’t that popular. Moreover, performances often get restricted to staging the stories alone, rather than clearly communicating the messages they are laced with. That’s why I tried a new format for the performance at Vyloppilly,” says Drishya, who is also adept at nangiyarkoothu and kathakali.

On the difference between seethankan, parayan and ottanthullal forms, she explains, “Seethankan translates to the name of the Malayali caste pulayan, and its idea is that a person from a lower caste is the narrator. Parayan thullal deals with spiritual matters and ottanthullal refers to the news from the messenger. There are also other differences regarding the mudras, usage of jewellery, costumes and more. However, Kunjan Nambiar has cleverly used them all as tools of revolution.”

The artiste, Drishya is currently also a researcher in thullal at the Kerala University, says that generally in thullal arts, spirituality is the focus. But her latest performance showcased how Nambiar was also a revolutionary when it comes to presenting thoughts about the caste system. “Through his works, he has shown how knowledge should be the factor that decides superiority, and how we are all equal when it comes to everything else.”

Drishya, who has trained under Devaki Amma, Kalamandalam Janardhanan, Margi Usha and others, has also been teaching from a young age. She had made headlines while in school, when her disciple performed at the high school youth festival, while Drishya herself was a contestant in the higher secondary section. “I love going to youth festivals even now. That’s why I continue to teach and urge my disciples to stage parayan thullal instead of ottanthullal, as it is no violation as per the fest manual,” she says.

One of her female disciples, Devika, made history in 2017 by becoming the first girl to take part in the parayan thullal competition in the State School Youth Festival. “I believe its children who need to see, understand and do something about these art forms now. That’s why I try my best to inspire them with these forms,” she says.

Alongside the revival of the thullal forms, a few months ago, Drishya tried her hand at busting myths that surround the absence of enough women in the thullal art forms. “There are many women who learn thullal, but we don’t see enough of them turning performing artistes. In the past few years, there were discussions that concluded that the reason is the absence of stamina to pull off this art form, which needs the performer to both move energetically and sing. That’s when I felt such a thought needs to be busted,” she says.

In October 2018, she staged a five-hour-long performance named Thullal Panchamam, stringing together five stories from Sreekrishna Charitham. “After each performance, my instrumentalists were changed and at that break, I used to drink water. That was my only break and post the performance, I was told that many, especially children, felt inspired by the same and that was wonderful. Now, I am planning to attach at least three more stories and stage a performance soon,” she says.

Drishya firmly believes that the thullal artforms can play a major part in sensitising the common man to the various issues around us. “Retaining the history and beauty of the art, the new generation should make use of it for the society. Dance nudges at our aesthetic sense, thullal nudges you to think too. I believe every thullal artiste should use his discipline to help the society make it their language. We should bring in new stories by using the ones that aren’t used enough.”

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