Swarnamalya

Studying Silappadikaram has been an exhilarating journey for me. The dancer in me was drawn to the beauty, prowess and knowledge of Madhavi and the person in me was inspired by her determination, her grid and her incomparable sacrifice of life. To me, that was a driving point.

Deciding to dance to the original verses gave me the opportunity to refer to works earlier to Silappadikaram such as Panchamarabu, Bharata Senapatiyam as well as the Natyasastra. Authenticity being my motto I have tried to understand the kind of dance, the usage of caris, nritta hastas and karanas prevalent at that time. Also, I have tried to adopt the hand gestures keeping to that time period .

K.N.Shashikiran

Silappadikaram is one of the referral points for Tamil music. Adhering to the
authenticity and also bring in the necessary variety for a dance production was a challenge. Incorporating the various moods and emotions depicted in the lyrics by the poet Elangovadigal as conceptualised and visualised by Swarnamalya became imperative and provided me a good scope.

We have certain musical numbers which have been based on dance forms like Kouthuvam. From the traditional temple music, classical, folk and even a bit of light classical has been interspersed. I have tried to use traditional instruments such as nadaswaram, flute, veena varieties and blended it with harp varieties. Traditional percussion instruments like tavil, mridangam,
ganjeera and the old drum perai, cymbals etc have also been used.

Prof. Dr. S.Raghuraman

My long cherished dream of presenting Madhavi as a stand-alone character on stage has been realised in the production Nammai marandarai Nam marakka mattom.

The letter written by Madhavi to Kovalan is acclaimed to be the first love letter in the Sangam literature. Madhavi's role in the epic is so pivotal. My association and contribution to this production in the capacity of a resource person allowed me to share my thoughts about Madhavi.

P. Krishnamoorthy

Hailing from Poompuhar the place around which the story of Silapadikaram has been built by the great poet, naturally I am inspired by the character of Madhavi. As an art director, I have developed special interest for period productions.

Still, presenting the character of Madhavi as seen through the eyes of the choreographer was quite interesting. Using the modern techniques of virtual presentation ,we have used suggestive paintings along with live shots of various backdrops to recreate the time period of silappadikaram.