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 e-mail: sunilkothari1933@gmail.com A memorable encounter with Yamini Krishnamurti May 9, 2016 During the two day World Dance Day Festival organized by Geeta and Rajiv Chandran under the aegis of heir institution Natya Vriksha, one of the major highlights was Geeta Chandran in a dialogue with the celebrated dancer Yamini Krishnamurti. It was one of the finest no- holds barred, frank, brutally honest and historic conversations. Yamini is a private person, so to draw her out and make her speak was indeed a tough job. But Yamini was in a very happy frame of mind and peppered her answers with humour also.  Photo: Sarabjit Dhillon Then I saw her in Mumbai performing Kuchipudi at Birla Matushri Sabhagar. Her father Prof. Krishnamurti introduced the programme in his impeccable Oxonian English. He was a great scholar and poet and a handsome man reminding one of philosophist J. Krishnamurti in looks. Yamini's younger sister Jyotishmati wielded the cymbals and conducted nattuvangam. And what a melodious voice she had. And she always looked gorgeous. The three of them, the trinity of Prof. Krishnamurti, Yamini and Jyotishmati won over the Bombay (Mumbai) audiences. When I listened to Krishna sabdam in chaste Sanskrit/Telugu rendered by Jyotishmati, I could remember it with its exquisite poetic images and similes: Yadhuvamsa sudhambudhi chandra Swami ra ra, and what seductive expressions Yamini wore - it became the most favourite and popoular number of her repertoire. The sweet singing in Mohana flowed: Narijana manasa chora, Ratnakara sama gambhira , Mahameru samana dhira, kavijana poshaka mandara, para raja shatru samhara, and so on, the comparisons came in succession creating royal, elegant images of Krishna. I had by then become a great fan of Yamini and never missed her performances in Bombay, which in early sixties she frequently visited and performed to full houses. My photographer friend Subodh Chandra took excellent black and white photographs, some of which adorn my book Bharatanatyam (Marg publications) and for one of the editions we had her on the cover. What a personality and what captivating dance! Tracing her career (I missed the Kalakshetra years), training under great nattuvanars Elappa Pillai, Kitappa Pillai, working with Dandayuthapani Pillai and several others with whom she worked, Yamini gave insight into those years where she was fortunate to be guided by her father. It was dance 24x7 and what glorious dancing it was. Among the listeners in the audience, the young generation was spellbound listening to Yamini's stories. Her emphasis on the final test for a dancer - her audience - was driven home. She created her audience all over India and told us that even in Madhya Pradesh where she was dancing there were terrible dacoits watching her dance! She recalled when visiting Kolkata, a Bengali organizer asked her father to present her at The Empire Theatre in the morning shows and if audience came for two successive days, Yamini would have won over audiences in Kolkata. The third day, the house was full. Such following of audience Yamini values the most. Her performances in Bihar in Motihari village where thousand strong audience used to watch her in perfect silence, she recalled with great satisfaction.  Photo: Pranit She spoke of so many human qualities, very touching. No politics, not particular about food, but practice regularly. Nattuvanars knew her gifts and talent. Lakshminarayana Sastri, the legendary Kuchipudi maestro, came one day to her home and told her to learn Kuchipudi as she was from Andhra, and later on Pasumarti Venugopalakrishna Sarma came to train and perform with her. Ditto in case of Odissi, Pankaj Charan Das was brought to Chennai and he taught her Pancha Kanya repertoire. She also learnt from Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, the ashtapadi Kuru yadunandana from the Gita Govinda. At one point she used to perform three dance forms in one evening. Her sister Jyotishmati had studied nattuvangam and sang for her for all the three styles. Her father gave the introductions – the three of them indeed were terrific. The seniors in the audience who had seen her in her youth had the pleasure of nostalgia down memory lane. She spoke about her television serial on temples. When asked if she watches television she said she keeps it on, else what is here to see was her approach. She liked Balasaraswati and also Shanta Rao as dancers. And told Rajiv Chandran she liked Dilip Kumar and Waheeda Rehman as films actors. When asked if she did exercises for dancing, meaning warm-up exercises, specially devised, she laughed and said, "What exercises?" She practiced just dance. There were references to her performing Krishna sabdam and inviting Krishna "Swami ra ra" - come Krishna. So powerful was her abhinaya that foreigners in the audience used to get up and walk up to the stage!! She looked content. If the honours and awards came her way, she richly deserved them. The latest Padma Vibhushan, she accepted with grace.Yes, she misses her father, who took great care of everything. After his demise, she did find it difficult to deal with musicians and travels, tours, and scheduling performances. She watches the dance scene and is impressed with the drive and push of the young generation, who are able to multi-task. After an affectionate and warm dialogue extending to two hours, she came back on stage and told Rajiv Chandran that she did not mean at all that he is villain, she was just joking. She won over the audience with her simplicity and by just being natural. Geeta Chandran is to get the interview transcribed and published. That would be a great memorabilia and for younger generation, a wonderful guide.  Dr. Sunil Kothari is a dance historian, scholar, author and critic. He is honored with Padma Shri, Sangeet Natak Akademi award and Senior Critic Award from Dance Critics Association, NYC. Post your comments Please provide your name and email id when you use the Anonymous profile in the blog to post a comment. All appropriate comments posted with name & email id in the blog will also be featured in the site. |
