Found: Kamala, Rhadha, and Vasanthi's Dance in Chenda (1973, Malayalam)

Another holy grail film dance FOUND!  This time it's 39-year-old Kamala AND her younger sisters Rhadha and Vasanthi dancing to Kamala's own choreography in the semiclassical song "Nrithyathi Nrithyathi Brahmapadam" from the 1973 Malayalam film Chenda! It's a 'triple whammy' in showing not only what Kamala and Rhadha danced like in 1973 but also dance footage of sister Vasanthi (whom I've only seen a few token photographs of in Sruti magazine).  Amazing!  The video quality is not very good (and YouTube's stabilization feature makes it a little dizzying), but the rarity of this film and its apparent lack of commercial release makes this a special video indeed! [Update: Relinked to new location in 2019, after previous version disappeared]

Continue Reading >>>

6 comments Bharatanatyam, Kamala, Malayalam, Rhadha, Vasanthi

A Clear Copy of Kamala's Tandava Dance in Sivagangai Seemai

Finally! A clear copy of Kamala Lakshman's dance in Sivagangai Seemai (Tamil, 1957) has been uploaded by the awesome YouTuber Kandasamy Sekkarakudi Subbiah Pillai.  This is my favorite film dance of Kamala's (second place would be her dance in Paavai Vilakku). It's not classical Bharatanatyam-based at all, but her training in the form gives this brilliantly-choreographed tandava-style dance incredible energy, precision, form, and speed.  The cinematography, music, and overall presentation are the icing on the cake.  It is entirely and unusually creative.  Kamala dances in four segments, each about a minute long and separated by scenes of the last speeches of the ruling Marudhu brothers/family before they are hanged by the British.  Behold what I can only describe as FIERCE:

Sivagangai Seemai ("Land of Sivagangai") is set in Sivagangai in Tamil Nadu around the turn of the 18th century "when the East India Company was struggling to establish supremacy over South India" (Guy). It tells the story of the Marudhu brothers who ruled Sivagangai at that time and "took on the British" by issuing a proclamation in 1801 urging "the people of every community to throw out the British" from India (Kolappan). Given that this was decades before the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, some have questioned the claim that the Sepoy Mutiny was "the first war of independence" in India. After the battle in Kalayarkovil near Sivaganga, "the East India Company ultimately destroyed the brothers" by hanging them in late 1801.

Continue Reading >>>

2 comments Kamala, Rhadha, Sai-Subbulakshmi

All About Kamala's Sister Rhadha - The Other Dancer in Bhakta Kuchela!

On a couple posts I’ve featured a lovely, rare “twin” dance from the 1961 Malayalam film Bhakta Kuchela starring Kumari Kamala and an unknown dancer.  There was a suggestion the unknown dancer might be Kuchala Kumari (of Konjum Salangai fame) who was credited in the film, but she looked different enough to still leave me curious of the Bhakta Kuchela dancer's identity.  Well my friends, I’m so excited to confirm that the unknown dancer is none other than Kamala’s younger sister, Rhadha!  Here is the dance; Rhadha is the shorter dancer on the left at the beginning, and apart from her occasional asynchrony with Kamala I think she does a great job:

I had read about this Rhadha person accompanying her famous sister Kamala (and other sister Vasanthi) in a film and on stage, but wasn’t able to find much other information. As I reread the excellent articles about Kamala from Sruti magazine, a look at some of the pictures of her sister Rhadha connected that distinctive nose to the girl in Bhakta Kuchela, but I couldn’t say for sure. When I tracked down the article about Rhadha, “The Dancing Heart,” written by Rhadha's close associate Sujatha Vijayaraghavan in issues 279 and 280 of Sruti magazine, the pictures it featured confirmed 100% that the Bhakta Kuchela dancer was indeed Rhadha! Just take a look- it’s unmistakable:

Left: Sruti magazine    Right: Bhaktakuchela

Continue Reading >>>

10 comments Kamala, Research, Rhadha