OttanThullal: A Comedy dance drama performance
Featuring Guru S.P.MOHANAKRISHNAN as the Monkey God in "CHARACTER IS POWER"
An episode from the Indian Epic "Mahabharata"
Ottan Thullal
Kerala, a small state in the south-west corner of India, is blessed with a variety of classical art legacies, folk art traditions and forms that are semi-classical and semi-folk.
Ottanthullal, popularly known as Thullal, is the most prominent among the semi-classical and semi-folk traditions. There are three varieties of Thullal, Seethankan Thullal, Parayan Thullal and Ottan Thullal, of which Ottan is the most popular one. Kalakkath Kunchan Nambiar(1705-1770), one of the most celebrated litterateurs of Kerala, introduced this form adapting elements from the prominent regional Folk traditions of the period.
Thullal is a solo performance marked by an aesthetic and appealing confluence of dance, humour, theatre, social criticism, satire, wits, anecdotes from daily life, variety of organic rhythms and recitation. Obviously, the form has become the art of the common person. The text is based on specially compositions (known as Thullal literature) with stories and incidences adapted from the Hindu epics.
Story Synopsis
A powerful God "Bheema", wants to find beautifully fragrant flower for his wife that is rare and only occasionally in the forest. In his haste to impress his wife and return quickly, he destroys everything in his way. Another God "Hanuman" the monkey king and son of the wind God, who is resting in the forest hears the commotion and decides to teach Bheema a lesson.....