Video Films based on Workshops
MALATHAMMA
COLOUR/ KANNADA WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES/ 72 MINUTES/ 2002
CREDITS:
CAMERA: S. Ramachandra EDITING: Swarnima SOUND: C. Chidananda PRODUCED BY: C.S. Lakshmi, SPARROW DIRECTION: Vishnu Mathur
G V Malathamma is the daughter of Gubbi Veeranna, a legendary figure in the history of Kannada theatre. Malathamma began to act in her father’s theatre company from the age of four. She and her husband Basavaraj, became famous for their roles as Sita and Rama in the play Lava-Kusha. Malathamma has two daughters, B. Jayashree and B. Padmashree both of whom are well-known in the contemporary theatre world. Disabled and virtually blind, Malathamma was seventy-five years old and lived with her daughter Jayashree in Bangalore, in a far away suburb, at the time of making this film. For company she had two dogs and her memories of her theatre days. In December 2008, at the age of 84, Malathamma passed away.
Watch full video by clicking on the image below.
K R AMBIKA
COLOUR/ TAMIL WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES/ 102 MINUTES/ 2003
CREDITS:
CAMERA: S. Ramachandra EDITING: Swarnima PRODUCED BY: C.S.Lakshmi, SPARROW DIRECTION: Vishnu Mathur
K R Ambika is a theatre artiste who acts in folk and musical dramas performed in villages and towns. She is the daughter of Thadikombu Ponniah and Kokilam. Her father Ponniah was famous as an artiste and as a drama teacher. He played female lead roles, generally referred to as “stree-part”. Ambika began to act in plays at a very young age and began playing male lead roles generally referred to as “raja-part”, from the age of eleven. Ambika has won several awards for her contribution to art. This video documentation of Ambika’s life and work was done in Melalakshmanampatti and in Karur, Tamilnadu, where Ambika lives.
Watch full video by clicking on the image below.
VITHABAI
COLOUR/ MARATHI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES/ 60 MINUTES/2001
CREDITS:
CAMERA: Alok Upadhyay EDITING: Umesh Gupta & Swarnima SOUND: Bhaskar Pal PRODUCED BY: C.S.Lakshmi, SPARROW DIRECTION: Vishnu Mathur
Vithabai Narayangaonkar is a Tamasha artiste of great repute hailing from the village of Narayangaon in Maharashtra. Born into a poor Dalit family of Tamasha artistes, Vithabai’s entire life has been spent in performing Tamasha and in keeping up the tradition of her family. This documentation covers her early years as a child in a poor Dalit family of performers, as a young artiste who had to take care of her life and art after her father’s death and as a much sought-after performer in her later years. Vithabai emerges as a survivor of many crises in her life in this film. Despite an exploitative, drunken husband, poverty and a performing career that had many ups and downs, Vithabai is able to keep her art alive and she narrates the story of her life and the history of Tamasha. The documentation was done a few months before Vithabai’s demise.
Watch full video by clicking on the image below.
