6 Mani Madhava Chakyar Quotes on Performance

Mani Madhava Chakyar quotes on performance

3. 'When i say Abhinaya, oh, I can't do the abhinaya like what the great man did here yesterday' - Great Bharatanatyam dancer Balasaraswati next day after Chakyar's lecture-demonstration at Madras Music Academy in 1973.[3]

10. 'Mani Madhava Chakyar's forte was Satwikabhinaya. Endowed with expressive eyes; that can speak a thousand moods and a countenance that can reflect the range of human emotions in its entirety, Mani Madhava Chakkiar was the master at work' - Mani Madhava Chakkyar: The Master at Work (film)[10]

12. 'With a few movements of the eye, he could manifest the mountains, the ocean, the rivers, the moonlit valleys, torrential rain, the gait of the swan and the elephant, a tornado, the opening of the lotus flowers and a lot else. To see him do it was to know that he was a non-pareil' - P.T. Narendra Menon (noted art critic and poet)[12]

13. '(I got introduced to) the late and great Mani Madhava Cakyar's King Udayana in Svapnavasavadatta. In what may have been among his last performances on the public stage I was fortunate to see Sri Cakyar, who at an advanced age, literally threw away his walking stick as he entered the stage to become a sprightly royal lover pining away for his beloved Vasavadatta. At his home in Likkadi he demonstrated the nava rasas... Sri Cakyar vividly illustrated to me that kutiyattam acting has the power to transform even the oldest person into the character he portrays' - Prof. Farley P. Richmond (Expert on Indian theatre), Department of Theatre and Film Studies, University of Georgia.[13]

14. 'His eyes were the unrivaled wonder of Abhinaya' - P.T. Narendra Menon (connoisseur of art)[14]

18. 'Mani Madhava Chakyar was performing sikhinisalabha... Butterflies fly all around. Some of them fell into the fire below. The anguish was reflected in the actor's eyes. Ha! There they come out without a burn! What a relief! They came again. The actor continued the performance. Only his eyes move: The audience was spellbound. They did not know that an hour has passed!' - About his world famous abhinaya of the shloka shikhinisalabha from Subhadradhananjayam.[18]