Thullal

Thullal is the successor of Kathakali. Kunchan Nambiar who lived two centuries ago, wrote the text of Thullal and choreographed it for the stage. All the forty or more Plays of Thullal composed by Kunchan Nambiar are replete with humor, sarcasm and social-criticism, Thullal has three divisions- Seethankan, Ottan and Parayan. The distinction between them lies mostly in the make-up and costumes and to some extent in the metres and the rhythm applied. Thullal often reflects the literary, artistic and cultural life of the medieval Kerala. In Thullal, episodes from the Indian Epics are retold in simple Malayalam poetry. The stylized singing of the lines carries with it the beauty of the dravidian metres. A rasika once called Thullal ‘the poor man’s Kathakali’. Thullal is a solo performance. As a semi-stylized dance-theatre-narrative, Thullal is a more popular entertainment than other temple-arts. The performer establishes powerful communication with the audience through verbal-acting which is interspersed with humor and social references.