Paramashivan - A Treasure Trove of a Forgotten Theater Tradition Life, Music and Search for an Identity

Abstract

Modern Kannada theater refers to a very rich tradition of theater that evolved in the princely state of Mysore, British India. It was founded, supported and nurtured under the royal patronage of the erstwhile kings of Mysore, Mummadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar, Chamaraja Wodeyar, Krishna Raja Wodeyar IV and Jaya Chamarajendra Wodeyar. Popularly known as ‘Kannada Vṛtti Raṅgabhūmi (Vṛtti:Professional, Raṅgabhūmi: Theater Stage)’, it reached its pinnacle of creative effervescence in the late 19th century during the colonial rule and rode high upon the crest of boisterous popularity from the early 20th century until its decline in the 1970s. The plays in this genre of theater were rife with a wide variety of music, beautiful poetry, dance and action. The dramatic literature—based on popular mythological, historical, social and fictional themes—was used as a story telling mechanism to appeal to the enamoured fancies of the audience. Though it initially throve under the magnanimous patronage of the kings of Mysore, modern Kannada theater was later promoted by famous drama companies such as A. V. Varadachar Company, Chamundeshwari Company, Gubbi Veeranna’s Channa Basaweshwara Company and K Hirannayya Company. The current work aims to document the salient features of modern Kannada theater, based on the artistic biography of the eminent Kannada theater personality, my father, Vidwan R Paramashivan (Vidwan – an epithet usually associated with scholarly musicians in South India), often referred to as ‘Kannada Raṅgabhūmi Bhīṣma Pitāmahā’ (“Great grandfather of Kannada theater”)’, who had an illustrious career spanning more than eight decades in Kannada theater as an actor, director, harmonium player and composer with various drama companies from 1935 to 1970. As an essential component of his biography, the work will include brief biographies of two of his sisters R Manjula (Born 1940) and R Nagarathnamma (1926-2012), both eminent actors, who were groomed under his watchful eyes in the nuances of acting and music. This work derives from a palette of research approaches including biography, dialogic interviews, auto-biographical and reflexive-ethnographical research methods. A series of personal interviews about Paramashivan’s personal life and his knowledge worlds of theater, cinema and music in a politically charged atmosphere amid a growing sense of nationalism determined to uproot the colonial rule, will be interpreted to reflect the social situation, cultural and political processes prevalent in that period. Paramashivan’s biography also sheds light on issues related to gender conventions, social status of actors and their struggles, social attitudes, prejudices and cultural pressures towards theater artists that led to the decline of a highly evolved art form such as modern Kannada theater.