The documentary titled ‘Kalamandalam Gopi’ scripted and directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan for Films Division is presented in the first person narrative. The artiste transforms himself into diverse and glittering personalities and, in the process we obtain rare glimpses of his life and art. As has been the experience of many a master, Gopi had a difficult childhood marked by poverty and travails. Gopi is adept at playing all types of roles, whether the characters are pacha, kathi of kari. The film won the Kerala State award for best documentary in 1999.

It was Painkulam Ramachakyar who opened Kutiyattam to a larger circle of audience and performers. In 1949 he took Chakyar Koothu for the first time beyond the walls of the temple, and Kutiyattam in 1957. He gladly accepted the invitation from Kerala Kalamandalam to open a Kutiyattam department, which started functioning in 1965 with Chakyar as its head. Again for the first time breaking the tradition-bound custom, he admitted students for training at Kalamandalam who belonged to communities other than Chakyars and Nangiars. This new epoch in the history of Kutiyattam began in 1949 and it continues even today. This epoch can and should justifiably be called the Ramachakyar epoch. The UNESCO declaration is an important link in the chain of events that resulted from the bold, historic action taken by Ramachakyar.
(Killimangalam Vasudevan Namboodiripad in ‘Kutiyattam: Ten years after the UNESCO declaration,’ NFSC Indian Folklife Journal issue 38, June 2011)

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