Kollam: Ottan Thullal is reaching new heights as an art form through the prodigious efforts of Drishya Gopinath, 25.
An exponent in Ottan Thullal, Kathakali, and Nangyar Koothu, Drishya will present a five-hour, non-stop Ottan Thullal gala by incorporating five stories crafted by eminent poet Kunchan Nambiar at the Sangeetha Nataka Akademi theatre in Thrissur on Saturday.
Hailing from ‘Mangalathu House’ at Karavaloor, Punalur, Drishya started learning the semi-classical folk art while she was just seven and has covered some 500 stages across the country so far. She is currently pursuing her academic research on the topic ‘Thullal art – unique rhythm and rare ragas’ in the Kerala University, Thiruvananthapuram.
“There are a good number of women coming forward to learn the art, but rarely they appear on a public platform to perform the art. I intend to bring Thullal to the mainstream and help promote the art,” Drishya told DC.
“Thullal as an art also lacks space in prominent festival events held in the state and this should be changed,” she added.
In her non-stop performance, Drishya will depict the tales of Lord Krishna under the title ‘Sreekr-ishna Kathamritham Th-ullal Panchamam,’ mainly Ganapathi Prathal, Sreekrishna Leela, Gov-ardhana Charitham, Nru-ga Moksham with Dasava-thara Varnana, and San-thana Gopalam.
“I have taken up the challenge of critics that women artists lack the requisite stamina and endurance of male artists in the field with my non-stop performance,” Dris-hya says.
She also presented the Thullal at Tulu literary festival, Dravidian university in Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, and Visakhapatnam, transcribing it into various other languages, including Telugu and Kannada.
She has also performed Sheethangan Thullal and Parayan Thullal on stages apart from training several students in these art forms.
