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Lady from Paris gives kathakali new life

When frequent strikes cut into her kathakali classes at the famous Kalamandalam in Kerala, Brigitte Revelli became furious.

It was then that those emotions, which made her leave Paris for good to enter the world of dance, began to take shape in clay. First it was the painful process of the make-up, then costumes, ornaments and face, finally complete characters.

An exhibition of the sculptures, which she did while waiting for her classes to restart, currently on in New Delhi's Romain Rolland Gallery, presents a curious picture -- of art on art.

Described as a ''vigorous and powerful creative experience'' by her mentor and kathakali exponent Sadanam Balakrishnan, the images shift the viewer into the uncharted territory of the mysteries of life and nature.

Revelli, who followed Balakrishnan to India from a kathakali workshop in Paris eight years ago, has brought out timeless expressions in her sculptures of Draupadi, Bhima and Hanuman (from Kalyana saugandhikam), Kuchela and Krishna (from Kuchela vrittam) and Kali, Hamsa and Karkodakan (from Nalacharitam).

The 10 sculptures on terracota serialising Kalyana saugandhikam, the story of Bhima's search for the flower that Draupadi implores him to fetch, and Hanuman's efforts to save his temperamental brother from dangers, evoke the feelings of shringara, valour, compassion and brotherhood.

Kali, the evil spirit in Nalacharitam -- the love story of king Nala and Damayanti -- with one finger raised, getting ready to enter the body of Nala, makes for an atmosphere of overflowing creative energy.

''The vigorous expressions on the face of Brigitte's sculptures are not possible even on the stage,'' says Balakrishnan, who has played all these characters many a time.

UNI

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