Kottakkal Sivaraman

Kathakali, being a largely masculine dance form with an all-male presence (at least till the end of the first half of the 20th century), tended to give female roles a secondary status.

[citation needed] The 1936-born Sivaraman, a disciple of his uncle-guru Padma Shri Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair at the PSV Natyasangham in Kottakkal in north-central Kerala's Malappuram district, decided to change all this subordination.

[citation needed] By the 1960s, he had experimented those ideas on stage with success, much to the appreciation of aesthetes not only in his native Valluvanad, an erstwhile central-Kerala fiefdom which has been the homestead for the refined Kalluvazhi style of Kathakali, but across Kerala and subsequently the rest of the world.

[citation needed] Over the years, Sivaraman has acted with actors of several generations across north and south Kerala, but it was with Kalamandalam Gopi that he teamed up well to gain repute as a phenomenal pair on the Kathakali stage.

[citation needed] An artiste with keen interest in reading books, ranging from the Puranas to the latest works in his native Malayalam literature, Sivaraman was known as a garrulous talker even while being a deep-sighted thinker of his art form.