Ratheesh KrishnaVadhyar's Journal - October 12th, 2003
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04:04 pm
[Link] | Swathi Thirunal
This weekend I read a good Malayalam novel Swathi Thirunal written by Vaikom Chandrasekharan Nair.
Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma was the king of Thiruvithamkoor during 1829-1846. More than being a ruler, he was a great composer and poet in several languages including Malayalam and Samskrit. He lived only for 34 years. By that time he had written some 500+ keerthanas and during his rule, artists from all over India came and resided in Thiruvithamkoor, enjoying the king's patronage.
The political situation was turbulent when Swathi Thirunal was born. The British were slowly and strategically taking over the rulership almost everywhere in India. Veluthampi, the Dalawa (Prime Minister) of Thiruvithamkoor had just lead one of the first major struggles against the British in Kerala. He failed and committed suicide. Balarama Varma was the king during that time, who didn't give much support to the minister's fights. His brother Kerala Varma was caught by the British, accusing him of supporting the Dalawa, and he was put in jail. Swathi Thirunal's mother ruled the kingdom after Balarama Varma. She passed away when Swathi Thirunal was just a small baby, so her sister Rani Parvathi Bhai ruled on his behalf until he turned 16.
By that time, the real power had completely gone to the hands of the British, who decided upon the appointments of ministers and other officials of the kingdom. The king became just a dummy, whose orders were often questioned by the British officials. They even criticized the king of spending too much money on giving stipends to artists. This state of affairs tormented Swathi Thirunal which made him physically and psychologically down. He wanted to openly fight for real freedom, but could not proceed with his plans because of various reasons. His dilemma regarding whether to rule or to quit, his passion of music and his constant worries that he, as a person, is not really understood or loved by anybody, give Swathi Thirunal the image of a Shakespearean tragic hero.
Vaikom Chandrasekharan Nair's book is well written, very much readable, and it captures the essence of Swathi Thirunal's life. Even though it is called as a novel, I think it is mostly non-fiction, and has gone closely with History.
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Lenin Rajendran made an unforgettable film based on Swathi Thirunal's story, in which Kannada actor Ananth Nag played the king's character to perfection. He was so well suited for the role that it was his image that came to my mind when I was reading the novel. The movie was almost a musical, with some 20 of Swathi Thirunal's beautiful compositions sprinkled on it. Even though during repeated viewing I keep on noticing more and more shortcomings in this movie, I could never forget the beautiful experience of watching it for the first time. In fact I have decided not to watch this film anymore, because I am afraid that I will find more faults with it.
The king's relationships with three women in his life were portrayed nicely in the movie, and there is at least one memorable scene associated with each of them. Sreevidya played the role of Rani Parvathi Bhai, who was like a mother to him. In the last scenes of the movie, a totally dejected Swathi Thirunal walks through the corridors of the palace, when the Rani addresses him as "Unni", with tears in her eyes. The king just stands there silently, with moonlight falling on his face through the windows.
In another scene, Swathi Thirunal is sitting near a paddy field, looking at the movement of wind in the green fields. Suddenly he is woken up from his dream by his wife Narayani (played by Ambika), who asks some question about the manurial properties of the soil. The king just stares at her for some time: Anger towards her lack of sensitivity, sadness, disappointment - everything is there in his expression.
The third scene is one in which Swathi Thirunal calls the dance girl Sugandhavalli to his room. She comes and stands in front of the king, expecting him to say something. He keeps on looking at her almost for a minute, and her face is shown in close-up during this time - head bent down and looking at the floor, with the eyelids revealing the restless movement of her eyes. At last the king asks her to go back, and she raises her head and looks at him with her large eyes as a big question mark, again a close-up shot. Actress Ranjini looked extremely beautiful in this scene.
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I read in a film magazine that a movie is now being made about the life of Raja Ravi Varma, another great artist-king of Kerala. The film is based on Ranjith Desai's Marathi Novel Raja Ravi Varma. DC Books published the Malayalam translation of this novel during its 20th (or 25th?) anniversary, which is a beautiful book by all means. I wish there were some images of Ravi Varma paintings as well in the book.
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