BHOPAL : On the sudden demise of theatre doyen, Kavalam Narayana Panicker, on June 26, a condolence meet was organised at Bharat Bhawan on Tuesday.
88-year-old Panikar who hails from Kerala has written over 26 Malayalam plays, many adapted from classical Sanskrit drama and Shakespeare, notably Madhyamavyayogam (1979), Kalidasa’s Vikramorvasiyam (1981, 1996), Shakuntalam (1982), Karnabharam (1984, 2001), Bhasa’s Uru Bhangam (1988), Swapnavasavadattam and Dootavakyam (1996). He is the founder – director of theatre troupe, Sopanam, which led to the foundation of Bhashabharati: Centre for Performing Arts, Training and Research, in Trivandrum.
He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Direction in 1983 by Sangeet Natak Akademi, and its highest award for lifetime achievement, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 2002. In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in the field of Arts, by the Government of India.
While reading out his condolence message, principle secretary, Culture Manoj Shrivastava said, “We are very shocked of his sudden death and we paid tribute to the great personality. He was known for experiments in theatre and it reflects in his works. He was the person who made possible to stage classical Sanskrit and Malyalam plays on stage. Due to his loyalty and dedication towards theatre, he became an inspiration of all theatre artists and lovers.
“Also, he had deep connection with MP. He staged his first Sanskrit play ‘Madhyamavyayogam’ in Ujjain. He was also felicitated with ‘Kalidas Samman’ by MP Government. Kala Academy had also organised week-long drama festival ‘Rang Pannikar’ based on him at Bharat Bhawn in 2014. We will remain indebted for his immense contribution in theatre world,” Shrivaatava added.
“He was very down to earth and a humble person. I wrote a book ‘Kavalam Panicker – Parampra Evam Samkalin’ which was based on him and during this I spent a huge time with him personally. I think myself lucky that the book is released by him during drama festival ‘Rang Pannikar’ at Bharat Bhawan.
He was not only a theatre personality but he was just like that a civilization who know how to express best things,” said city-based noted Hindi poet Sangeeta Gundecha.
“He was living heritage of Indian civilization. It is not only a loss of Indian theatre but world theatre. Unke jane se visheshkar classical Indian Drama mein khalipan aa gaya hai,” Gundecha added with heavy heart.
“He was the man who brought ‘Natyshastra’ among common man by his work. Due to him only people could understand Natyashastra easily. It is big loss for theatre but personal too,” said eminent poet Udyan Vajpeyi.
