Thrissur: Giving a fitting reply to dancer Kalamandalam Sathyabhama over her casteist remarks against noted Mohiniyattam dancer RLV Ramakrishnan, Kerala Kalamandalam has decided to host his classical recital at its prestigious Koothambalam at 5 pm on Tuesday.
Reacting to the invitation, Ramakrishnan expressed his happiness and termed the opportunity as a dream-come-true moment for him. Though the dancer had completed his PhD from Kalamandalam, which is a deemed university, he had not got an opportunity to perform on the campus.
“ Every dancer will wish to perform at Kalamandalam. So it's a dream-come-true moment for me,” Ramakrishnan told Manorama News.
Ramakrishnan, the brother of the late actor Kalabhavan Mani, has been receiving invitations for dance performances after Sathyabhama's remark against him triggered a controversy. Social media also witnessed campaigns seeking justice for Ramakrishnan.
Sathyabhama made the controversial remark against Ramakrishnan in an interview on a YouTube channel. "The person who performs Mohiniyattam should be 'mohini' (enchanting). He has the colour of a crow. This is an art form that requires a stance that keeps the legs wide apart. There is nothing more repulsive than a man who performs with his legs wide apart in this manner," she is heard saying in the interview.
"In my opinion, men should perform Mohiniyattam only if they are that good-looking...But his looks are unbearable," she was seenn saying. Sathyabhama, however, had not specified whom she was referring to.
But as the video went viral, Ramakrishnan took to Facebook and alleged that he was Sathyabhama's target.
The Kerala State Human Rights Commission on Friday initiated a case against Satyabhama and directed the Thrissur district police chief and the secretary of the cultural affairs department to conduct a probe and submit a report within 15 days.
Though this was action taken suo motu, rights activist Guinness Madasamy had also filed a complaint on the same issue, the human rights panel said.
Sathyabhama is also being criticised for assuming the name of the late Padma Shri Kalamandalam V Satyabhama who taught her Mohiniyattam at the Kerala Kalamandalam.
Kalamandalam Satyabhama, who passed away in September 2015 aged 77, was an Indian classical dancer, teacher and choreographer, known for her performances and scholarship in Mohiniyattam.
