Kalanilayam Gopinathan
Gopinathan
was born on 29th May 1967 at Iringalakkuda of Trichur District, Kerala
to late Shri P. Narayanan and Smt. Sarojini Amma. After school education,
from the year 1981, Gopinathan started training in Kathakali at Unnai
Varrier Smaraka Kalanilayam, Iringalakkuda. Initially he gained 6-Year
diploma in Kathakali Vesham. Then he specialized in Vesham for one more
year. Subsequently, he studied for two more years with Central Government
Scholarship. The gifted Gurus of that time S/Shri Kalamandalam Kuttan,
Pallippuram Gopalan Nair, Kalanilayam Raghavan, Kalanilayam Gopalakrishnan,
Kalanilayam Gopi, Kalamandalam K.G. Vasudevan and Kalanilayam Mohan Kumar,
trained Gopinathan and mended him as a full-fledged Kathakali Artiste.
During the period of his training in Kalanilayam, S/Shri Kalanilayam Raveendra
Natha Pai, Kalanilayam Rajashekara
Panikkar, Kalanilayam Madhumohan, Kalanilayam Mukundan, Kalanilayam Sankunni
were his batch-mates.
From 1995 Gopinathan is teaching ‘Vesham’ in Unnai Varrier Smaraka Kalanilayam. As an Expert in Kathakali , Gopinathan has exemplified in all Pacha Veshams like Bheema, Arjuna, Srirama, Srikrishna etc., Kathi Veshams like Duryodhana, Ravana, Narakasura etc., Vella Thadi Veshams like Hanuman, Nandikeshawara etc., Kari Veshams like Kattalan, Kali etc, and Thecha Veshams like Parasuraman, Sundara Brahmanan, Mallan etc. Gopinathan has shown his excellence in performing almost all veshams in Kathakali in and around Kerala. The students studied under Gopinathan performed great in School and College levels and many have gained ‘A’ Grade for their performances. Unnai Varrier Smaraka Kalanilayam has choreographed nearly 10 to 15 new Aattakathas in which Gopinathan has given his excellent participation in Kadathanattu Narendra Varrier’s plays (1) ‘Padmavathi Parinayam’, which depicts the story of ‘Seven Hills’ – Thirupathi. The role of Gopinathan in this play was ‘Pisachu’ (Ghost); (2) ‘Sangameshawara Charitham’, which is the story revolves around Iringalakkuda Koodal Manikka Swami Temple (Gopinathan’s role in the play was the King of Kochi); (3) ‘Yathra Daanam’ (Arjuna); (4) ‘Vishnumaaya Charitham’ which is also called ‘Aavanangattu Mahima’ (his role as Srikrishna), and Shakespeare’s Play ‘Macbeth’ (Gopinathan as Macbeth). He also choreographed and acted in other new Aattakathas like Karnavadham, Karnabishekam etc. Kalanilayam Gopinathan was bestowed with many awards namely Shri Pallippuram Gopalan Nair Award in the year 1986, Shri Punnapalli Vasudevan Namboothiripaad Award in 1988, Scholarship from Central Government, are some of them. Once Gopinathan’s excellent performance as Parasurama in Seethaswayamvaram made the audience enthralled and he was rewarded with a ‘Ponnada’ in the stage. Like that, in another two incidences, he received rewards from the audience for his ‘Ulbhavam’ Ravanan and Srikrishna in ‘Duryodhanavadham’.
Gopinathan has four brothers, S/Shri Radhakrishnan, Rajagopalan, Raveendran and Rajeev. (Shri Rajeev is Chutti Artist in Kalanilayam) and one sister Smt. Subadra Devi. Kalanilayam Gopinathan’s wife Kalamandalam K.S. Prasheeja is a dance exponent. She is now working as Guest-Lecturer in Kaladi Sanskrit University. Master P.G. Harikrishnan is their son, who studies in 1st Standard.
From 1995 Gopinathan is teaching ‘Vesham’ in Unnai Varrier Smaraka Kalanilayam. As an Expert in Kathakali , Gopinathan has exemplified in all Pacha Veshams like Bheema, Arjuna, Srirama, Srikrishna etc., Kathi Veshams like Duryodhana, Ravana, Narakasura etc., Vella Thadi Veshams like Hanuman, Nandikeshawara etc., Kari Veshams like Kattalan, Kali etc, and Thecha Veshams like Parasuraman, Sundara Brahmanan, Mallan etc. Gopinathan has shown his excellence in performing almost all veshams in Kathakali in and around Kerala. The students studied under Gopinathan performed great in School and College levels and many have gained ‘A’ Grade for their performances. Unnai Varrier Smaraka Kalanilayam has choreographed nearly 10 to 15 new Aattakathas in which Gopinathan has given his excellent participation in Kadathanattu Narendra Varrier’s plays (1) ‘Padmavathi Parinayam’, which depicts the story of ‘Seven Hills’ – Thirupathi. The role of Gopinathan in this play was ‘Pisachu’ (Ghost); (2) ‘Sangameshawara Charitham’, which is the story revolves around Iringalakkuda Koodal Manikka Swami Temple (Gopinathan’s role in the play was the King of Kochi); (3) ‘Yathra Daanam’ (Arjuna); (4) ‘Vishnumaaya Charitham’ which is also called ‘Aavanangattu Mahima’ (his role as Srikrishna), and Shakespeare’s Play ‘Macbeth’ (Gopinathan as Macbeth). He also choreographed and acted in other new Aattakathas like Karnavadham, Karnabishekam etc. Kalanilayam Gopinathan was bestowed with many awards namely Shri Pallippuram Gopalan Nair Award in the year 1986, Shri Punnapalli Vasudevan Namboothiripaad Award in 1988, Scholarship from Central Government, are some of them. Once Gopinathan’s excellent performance as Parasurama in Seethaswayamvaram made the audience enthralled and he was rewarded with a ‘Ponnada’ in the stage. Like that, in another two incidences, he received rewards from the audience for his ‘Ulbhavam’ Ravanan and Srikrishna in ‘Duryodhanavadham’.
Gopinathan has four brothers, S/Shri Radhakrishnan, Rajagopalan, Raveendran and Rajeev. (Shri Rajeev is Chutti Artist in Kalanilayam) and one sister Smt. Subadra Devi. Kalanilayam Gopinathan’s wife Kalamandalam K.S. Prasheeja is a dance exponent. She is now working as Guest-Lecturer in Kaladi Sanskrit University. Master P.G. Harikrishnan is their son, who studies in 1st Standard.
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Contact
details: Address: KALANILAYAM
GOPINATHAN Telephone: 09349023499 |
