Kalamandalam Hyderali
കലാമണ്ഡലം ഹൈദരാലി
Kalamandalam Hyderali
Kalamandalam Hyderali
Background information
Birth nameHyderali
Born(1946-09-05)5 September 1946
Wadakkancherry, India
Died5 January 2006(2006-01-05) (aged 59)
Wadakkancherry, India
GenresKathakali
Occupation(s)Singer

Kalamandalam Hyderali (5 September 1946 – 5 January 2006) (Malayalam: കലാമണ്ഡലം ഹൈദരാലി) was one of the best Kathakali singers of his generation, and the first non-Hindu artiste to make a mark in the four-century-old classical dance-drama from Kerala in south India.[1][2]

Life

Hyderali was a native of Ottupara in Wadakkanchery of Thrissur district. His father, Moidutty, was an exponent of Mappila Paattu.[3] The art world first took notice of little Hyderali's talent when he won a local-level competition, singing the Malayalam film song "Kalle Kaniville".It was when he was 11 years old that Hyderali joined Kerala Kalamandalam. Hailing from a poor family, his parents had struggled to pay the admission fee -— incidentally "a Hindu and a Christian" helped him secure admission in the premier performing arts institute, as Hyderali later recalls in his autobiography.

Education

At Kalamandalam, he received training from gurus like Kalamandalam Neelakantan Nambisan, Sivaraman Nair and Kalamandalam Gangadharan. His contemporaries at the institution included Madambi Subrahmanian Namboodiri, Kalamandalam Sankaran Embranthiri and Kalamandalam Tirur Nambissan. A while after passing his course, M. K. K. Nair, a patron of the arts, offered him a job in the FACT Kathakali school in Ambalamedu off Kochi. Hyderali, along with Kalamandalam Sankaran Embranthiri and Venmani Haridas, was instrumental in remoulding the aesthetics of Kathakali music and making it more popular.[4] Hyderali had a light, pliant and sonorous voice that tuned well to softer and melodramatic scenes on Kathakali stage. His emotive singing used to earn him praise from masters like Kalamandalam Gopi. Hyderali was among the pioneers who rendered Kathakali music as independent programmes, without the visual foreground. Their innovation has since come to stay.

Humiliation

Hyderali, suave and soft-spoken, nurtured the wish to see Lord Krishna in real life, but had to occasionally suffer professional humiliation on religious grounds, as entry to temples (where a chunk of Kathakali shows finds stage) in Kerala is barred for non-Hindus.[5][6] Kathakali aficionados recall how those in control of an ancient temple near Haripad actually pulled down a part of the compound wall and extended the platform there for Hyderali to sing for the Kathakali performers inside the compound. A feature film was made in 2019 by kiran G.nath in Malayalam language named Kalamandalam Hyderali (film)[7][8]

Later life

Hyderali, by the 1990s, had gained a reputation for his expertise in handling both romantic/dramatic and choreographically dense classical stories in Kathakali. But, just as his career was peaking, a road accident at Mullurkara near his hometown, while he was on his way to his alma mater driving a car, claimed the musician's life on 5 January 2006.[9] Hyderali's music, basically built on a throat profile that sounds more upcountry (like Hindustani classical or Ghazal), seem to live on—at least in parts in the next couple of generations of Kathakali musicians. Prime among them stands Pathiyoor Sankarankutty, who Hyderali groomed during the latter's younger days. A section of buffs also finds Kalamandalam Hareesh to possess streaks of similarity with Hyderali's style of singing.

Death

Hyderali died in a car accident near Mullurkara, Thrissur district on 5 January 2006.[10][11][12]

References

  1. ↑ "Transcending barriers – K. K. GOPALAKRISHNAN". The Hindu. 22 January 2006. Archived from the original on 27 November 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2006.
  2. ↑ "Hyder Ali – Man who bridged the religious divide by Kalamandalam Gopi" (PDF). old.kerala.gov.in. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  3. ↑ "Kalamandalam Hyder Ali". CyberKerala. Retrieved 6 January 2006.
  4. ↑ "Immortal strains of melody – V. KALADHARAN". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ↑ "ഓർത്താൽ വിസ്മയമാണീ ജീവിതം".
  6. ↑ "Temple theatres in Kerala have been an upper caste preserve for ages. Now there are calls for change".
  7. ↑ mathrubhumi.com/movies-music/music/kalamandalam-hyderali-s-life-will-be-screened-as-film-1.3232109
  8. ↑ "Kathakali's Muslim voice no more". 6 January 2006.
  9. ↑ "Kalamandalam Hyderali killed in accident". The Hindu. 6 January 2006. Archived from the original on 20 April 2006. Retrieved 6 January 2006.
  10. ↑ "കലാമണ്ഡലം ഹൈദരാലിയുടെ മരണം; ഇന്നും നടുക്കുന്ന ഓർമ്മ".
  11. ↑ Sreevalsan, T. K. (4 April 2014). "Accident of worth". The Hindu.
  12. ↑ "Kalamandalam Hyderali Balipa Narayana: Two Sides of the Same Coin". 14 February 2022.
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