Nataka Akademi fellowships announced

Thrissur: The Kerala Sangeetha

Nataka

Akademi on Thursday announced the winners of its 2020 fellowships, annual and Guru Pooja awards. Pirappankode Murali (theatre), Kalamandalam Vasu Pisharody (Kathakali) and Tripunithura Radhakrishnan (ghatam) bagged the fellowships, an akademi press release said.

Each

fellowship

carries a cash prize of Rs 50,000, plaque and citation. Murali, a former CPM MLA, has had a decades-long association with theatre as playwright and lyricist. Pisharody, a renowned Kathakali artiste, was also a teacher and vice principal of Kerala Kalamandalam. Radhakrishnan is a brilliant exponent of ghatam who has performed in several countries, the release said.

Among the award winners are six theatre artistes: Rajani Melur, E A Rajendran, Pradeeep Malavika, T Sureshbabu, Gopalan Adat and C N Sree Valsan. The other winners include Manalur Gopinath (Ottanthullal), K Venkitaraman (vocal music), Babu Narayanan (violin), Premkumar Vatakara (music direction), Reena Murali (light music) and Natesh Shankar (light music).

Each award consists of a cash prize of Rs 30,000, plaque and citation.

The Guru Pooja Award winners include Meena Ganesh, E T Varghese, Cherayi Suresh, Nilambur Mani, Rathnamma Madhavan, Kalamandalam Sreedevi and Babil Perunna. It comprises a cash prize of Rs 30,000, plaque and citation. tnn