It was Bharatanatyam’s good fortune that Baby Kamala and her family had to move from Mumbai to Mayavaram (present day Mayiladuturai) because of World War II. That was a time when almost all south Indians moved out from that city. She was initiated into the ancient art form by Guru Kattumannarkoil Muthukumarasamy Pillai and then continued learning under Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai.
Her mother loved dance and so little Kamala was taught Kathak and Bharatanatyam. She also learnt Hindustani and Carnatic music. Baby Kamala and then ‘Kumari’ Kamala, who passed away recently at the age of 91 in California, was a child prodigy of the 1940s, who reigned supreme for over three decades in the dance world, making a mark in cinema as well. She was just seven when her bharatanatyam arangetram was held at Mayavaram.
Ranjith Movie Tone’s Chandulal Sharma introduced her to Hindi cinema and A.V. Meiyappa Chettiar chose to mesmerise Tamil audiences with her graceful moves and expressive face. She acted in around 100 films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada. Her roles in films like Konjum Salangai and Naam Iruvar are still remembered by audiences.
‘Kumari’ Kamala. Picture courtesy: The Hindu.
Entering the film world gave her joy, “It is because of my fame in cinema that I got more opportunities to perform. Dance was everything to me. When I was not dancing, I would be at shootings or watch films. My evenings were however spent at the beach, relaxing after a hectic schedule,” she told this author in an interview in 1998.
Kamala Laxman and then Kamala Lakshminarayan, as she was known later in life, loved to watch other dancers perform. She used to say she would pick the good aspects from the performances.
Once in 2004, at a concert by vocalist Nithyasree Mahadevan at Sri Bhairavi Gana Sabha, Kamala arrived and enjoyed the performance. She said she wanted to listen to Nithyasree’s kutcheri for some time as the songs of her grandmother D.K. Pattammal had provided an outlet for her in films.
Kamala left India for the USA in 1980 where she started a dance school named Sri Bharatha Kamalalaya in Long Island, New York where she trained students in the Vazhuvoor style of dance. A recipient of the Kalaimamani award from the government of Tamil Nadu, she was also presented with the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Padma Bhushan for her contribution to the arts. The first E. Krishna Iyer Medal was presented to Kamala by the Sruti Foundation in 1989 in Chennai. It was a memorable occasion for her to receive the award and perform in the presence of her veteran guru, Ramaiah Pillai on the occasion, as she recalled later. Her death leaves a void in the world of classical dance.