It was a hectic day of the Intensive Drama Program (IDP). 48 actors had just been trained on the 10th day of the workshop for 12 continuous hours. They were exhausted, almost falling down. No one waited in the campus. The participants had to be back the following day at 8:00 am. The guest house where the instructors were housed was however bustling with activity. Discussions were in full swing. Theatre, politics, literature, country, language – all kept bouncing off the walls of the hall. Interns and organisers walked past briskly with a variety of stationery in their hands. Mobiles were flashing, laptops running…One man was sitting still through all this. He might have been at complete peace except for the drum blazing through his veins. One of the best Mizhau artistes the country has witnessed in recent times, Kalamandalam VKK Hariharan greeted me with a warm smile and lead me to his room.Having worked at the Ammanur Chachu Chakyar Smaraka Gurukulam for 12 years and accompanying legends like the Late Ammannur Madhava Chakyar, VKK Hariharan has performed in and outside of Kerala and of the country as well. He has also aided in composing and choreographing an acting manual and music for Mandodari and Draupadi as a part of rediscovering female characters for Kudiyattam theatre. He has done extensive research and experimentation on the Panchamukha Mizhau (Mizhau with five faces) and used it in Kerala as part of traditional and contemporary theatre. He is associated with contemporary dance and theatre institutes in the country including Attakalari, Bangalore and Aadishakti, Pondicherry.At the IDP, he was in charge of the Rhythm department. His mode of training was through the traditional instrument Kutti which is used by freshers as a practicing instrument. Accomplished artistes then move on to use the Mizhau. However, until then it’s only the Kutti they practice on.Over the course of the following conversation during which Sankar Venkateswaran acted as the mediator, the maestro reflected on how supreme the cause of art is to him. With inputs by IDP organiser & facilitator Jehan Maneckshaw, VKK Hariharan held court.
Asmit Pathare
Over the years how have have you arrived at the training methodologies that you use in class?
I have only practised the traditional system. It has been there since ages. It’s the Guru-Shishya Parampara. I have been trained under a Guru and in this manner I have trained other students. Although with dedicated schools being opened for the cause, the actual earthy tradition cannot be practised to the tee. But practice remains to be the common element in the tradition. Continuous and rigorous practice has no alternative. I trained in a government school but under a Guru. Now I teach a batch of around 20 students.
Who have your mentors been?
Padmashri P.K. Narayanan Nambiar and Kalamandalam Isharan Unni.
Are there any kind of specific exercises that you always do or are your training modules completely dependent on the program for the workshop?
As I said earlier, I follow the parampara (tradition). As a teacher too, I follow methods that have been traditionally proven.
How long is this tradition?
The Kudiyattam tradition is now close to 2500 years old. It is the only theatre form that has been in existence for such a long time.
In a scenario like Mumbai, where theatre is rarely practised full-time and where most actors work from production to production, at times infrequently, how is it possible for an actor to achieve that fine balance between training and practice?
Discipline is my answer in one word. For a theatre person, rhythm is of utmost importance. By that I don’t mean the rhythm in the context of music. A theatre actor needs to inculcate a sense of rhythm in his body. He may not know the taals in music but there needs to be an inherent rhythm going on in his body. In my first two days here, there was a big difference in what I expected and what actually happened. But I worked out a discipline for them. Tradition has a discipline, a certain respect to the form, art, instrument, teacher that isn’t found so easily. That discipline is necessary.
Some characteristics that define your style of training.
Sharpness, hardwork, strict, discipline and don’t forget, I am the ‘bad man’.
(During translation, Sankar narrates his own experience with Hariharan)
Sankar: I have been doing a production for the past year. But only after coming here and practicing under him could I feel the intensity. My palms now host to all these blisters (shows his palms). But its great. The class has a rhythm.
(Jehan pops in)
Jehan: On the first day, they (students) were drumming casually. 6-7 even went out of the class on the pretext of water, loo and complaining about the pain in their palms. Hariharan just walked out. They don’t know who this man is. Sankar had to stand outside his house for days to convince him to train him. Then I went in the class and told them the importance of reception. They did apologise with the ‘sorries’ and ‘pleases’. But the real apology lay in their work.
VKK (laughs at this): Application is something that needs to be discovered. The relation between acting and rhythm is the key to it.
Just as training helps an actor hone and develop his/her skills, is there ever a danger of being ‘trapped’ in a particular style or school of acting?
Yes and no. However, exposure is needed to different art forms and styles.
What are the keywords that you would like your participant-actors to particularly bear in mind after they have been through the process?
Everything has to be kept in mind. Maybe rhythm on the first day, theatre on the second day and so on. But they have to bear everything in mind. All that has been taught to them in that 1.45 hours.
In your long experience as trainer-practitioner, can you recall any one fulfilling experience of having observed your student-actor internalise your training?
Not any one in particular. But it’s always fulfilling for a trainer when a student understands and internalises the concepts of respect towards the art-form, his instrument and his teacher.
*This interview is first in the series of exclusive interviews with the workshop conductors of the Intensive Drama Program (IDP), which took place at the NCPA from 4th-16th May 2009. The IDP was one of its kind of theatre workshops organized by Theatre Professionals in collaboration with the NCPA. The interviewer, Asmit Pathare is a young theatre enthusiast. His theatre experience dates back to his college days in Sangli. He has actively participated and assisted in various theatre productions in Mumbai. He is interested in films, writes poetry and has his own blog.
Click below to read the other interviews by the workshop conductors of the intensive drama programme.
Over the years how have have you arrived at the training methodologies that you use in class?
