COVID-19: Contemporary artistes help folk performers across Tamil Nadu through the second wave

Contemporary performers, students and patrons step up to help folk artistes across Tamil Nadu, breaking barriers between artistic fraternities

Fire stunts, horse riding scenes and rebellious movement make Madurai Veeran Koothu a herculean performance to pull off. The lesser-known artform, which comes under the umbrella of therukoothu, follows the story of the underdog — an oppressed shoemaker’s son who rose through the ranks, only to be killed — and is performed with fiery wooden spokes. For 30 years, Dharmapuri Ramakrishnan lived and breathed as Madurai Veeran on stages across Tamil Nadu. It has been more than a year since he saw a stage. Earlier, when he did not have a show, he would cook for weddings. That, too, is not an option anymore. As a result of the ongoing pandemic, community-based, folk artistes who perform for weddings, funerals and temple festivals are staring at a seemingly endless period of unemployment. Since most of these forms are physical in nature, making them difficult to translate virtually, artistes are unlikely to be hired for many months to come. These are also communities who also lack resources to pivot online.