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Make-up in Kathakali is a prolonged, arduous and meticulous art, which begins hours
THEIR deft strokes transform a frail, earthly figure into the mighty Indian demigod Hanuman. Their soft touches can change a scrawny pork-marked face into that of an ‘apasara’. But the make-up artistes of the Kathakali theatre, the classical dance drama of Kerala, are destined to remain the unsung, backstage heroes unlike the actors, musicians or drummers, who hog the whole limelight. In Kathakali parlance, the make-up artists are known as ‘chuttikkars’ and their art as chuttikuthal. Not many know that make-up in Kathakali is a prolonged, arduous and meticulous art, which begins hours before the actual staging of the play before a wicker-lighted bell-metal lamp at the fall of the dusk. "Not many know that it takes long hours to put make-up on the face, draw eye lines and carefully put the white frames around the face for the light to reflect on the face so that the onlookers could catch the minute shades of expressions of the character," chief make-up artiste of the Margi Kathakali troupe Raveendran Pillai said. "There is a misconception that the facial make-up in Kathakali consists of a mask. Had it been a mask, then where would be the place for expressions and movements of eyes through which an actor could render highly emotional and poignant moments in the play," asked Pillai. Make-up is all the more important in Kathakali as the classical theatre had divided the characters into four broad types or ‘veshams’, depending upon their basic qualities. They are called ‘pacha’ (heroes and good ones), ‘kathi’ (antagonists like Ravana or Duryodhana), ‘minukku’ (female characters) and ‘thadi’ (base elements like Dussasana). Each type is assigned a particular external appearance, which makes them different from one another. "Make-up in Kathakali is not just complicated but time-consuming as well. We have to do many preparations hours before the show. Getting an actor ready for the character he is to perform takes four to five hours," Pillai said. The most painstaking part of the make-up is preparing and fixing the frame around the face. The frames are made of a perfect blend of rice flour and finely grounded limestone. If the proportion goes wrong, it can burn the face of the actor. Only an experienced hand could make the proper mix and fix it to the face. Initially, the paste is applied on the cheeks right up to the jawbone. The rice-lime mixture is then pasted there. Then a white paper is cut and stuck upon the mixture. "A minor slip of hand or error of judgment could collapse the whole show," Pillai said. Kathakali is perhaps the only theatre in the world, which still retains the tradition of the male artistes doing the female roles as well. "So, naturally, transforming men into good-looking women is a meticulous task," he said. The ‘chuttikkars’ also perform other tasks like helping the actors to wrap the heavy skirts around, fitting the headgears and fixing the heavy ear-studs. But, as the dusk
envelops and the stage gets lighted ushering in a row of glittering
performers on the stage, the make-up artistes recede to the backdrop
unknown and unappreciated for the part they have played. — PTI
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