C.V. Chandrasekhar — A friend, philosopher and guide

Tribute to the legendary C.V. Chandrasekhar

Malavika Sarukkai: “Being an extraordinary artiste himself, his perception of art often influenced my thinking”.

My association with Chandru anna goes back several years when he returned to Chennai after being away from the city for long. I was intrigued by his experiences and journey in dance. In him, I found an artiste who combined scholarship and passion, tradition and change, depth and wonderment. These qualities inspired me to request him to create music compositions for dance concepts close to my heart. They included ‘Sthiti-Gati’, ‘Bird Song’ and ‘Laya’.

Our collaborative sessions were always in person, unhurried and gentle as we both deeply enjoyed the creative process. From his vast knowledge of Carnatic and Hindustani music, Chandru anna would effortlessly create melodic phrases, jati, lyric and rhythm that evolved into distinctive music compositions. These compositions took shape through dialogue, sensitivity and attention to detail, to best suit the concept I had in mind. Our mutual respect inspired discussions on dance at every stage. Being an extraordinary artiste himself, his perception of art often influenced my thinking.

Once the music was composed, he gave me all the freedom to interpret it as I desired. This was something I treasured. In him, I found an artiste of depth and courage, who was excited as I was to expand the boundaries of Bharatanatyam. He would often attend my performances with Jaya akka and I deeply cherished those occasions. He brought to my dance life a generosity of giving, which I can never forget.

Sujatha Vijayaraghavan: “His humility would often make us forget that we were in the presence of a legend”.

He had just recovered from an illness. We at Natyarangam requested him to take a break from his usual adavu sessions at our camp. Our more than 25-year association with the natyacharya was defined by love, reverence and learning. He participated in Natyarangam’s first thematic festival ‘Vandemataram’ in 1997, where he performed with wife Jaya a pudu kavithai set to music by him.

He was the convenor of the Natya Sangraham camp at Thennangur for more than two decades (from the year 2000). He could handle all the four branches of abhinaya — angika, vachika with poetry and music, aharya and satvika with equal felicity. He interacted with all the faculty members with easy informality, which made the sessions memorable and invaluable.