Film Choreographies of Nattuvanar V.S. Muthuswami Pillai: Part One

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V.S. Muthuswami Pillai (source)

While reading about the hereditary nattuvanar of yesteryear V.S. Muthuswami Pillai in Sruti magazine (Issues 319 and 320), I was surprised to learn that he was the sole guru and early film choreographer of the most brilliant dancing duo of Indian cinema, Sayee-Subbulakshmi! He was also responsible for some authentic Bharathanatyam numbers in Indian cinema, not only of Sayee and Subbulakshmi but also Vyjayanthimala and other artists. The author of the Sruti articles, Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, presents a portrait of V.S. Muthuswami's life from his youth in a hereditary dance and music community to his dance direction in Indian cinema and finally his "French period" where he reached his creative peak teaching foreign students from France and creating his own style.  Sujatha also links Sayee and Subbulakshmi to relatives P.A. Periyanayaki and R. Padma!

Thus my much-delayed "Remembering Film Choreographers" series officially begins!  In the series kick-off post, I had revealed my discovery that almost all of the top-notch classical film dances featured on my blog were choreographed by members of the traditional dance community or eminent dancers; in the case of Tamil films, by hereditary Bharathanatyam nattuvanars.  It's a subject that has received precious little attention, popular or scholarly, until recently.

Look beyond the sparkling veneer of these film dances and one finds that they were often the products of economic necessity by the hereditary community whose stigmatized way of life underwent tremendous upheaval during the reform movements surrounding women, temple dedication, and dance in the early twentieth century in India.  Many nattuvanars migrated to urban areas like Madras (now Chennai) where upper-class/caste girls from outside the traditional community desired to learn the dance in newly-formed institutions.  Films provided another avenue of opportunity, and due to the reach of the medium into the popular consciousness, the film dances of these nattuvanars were partly responsible for creating awareness of Bharatanatyam among the masses and surely contributed to the dance "revival's" success and acceptance. To the delight of historians and archivists, these film dances also serve as a visual record of the early dance form, the nattuvanar's style, and in some cases glimpses of the nattuvanar himself.  And to the delight of this blog, these film dances are damn good!

Because there is so much information to cover, I've split up this post topic into three parts.  In this first part here, I will focus on V.S. Muthuswami Pillai's life (hereafter just "Muthuswami Pillai") and choreography in films before and outside of Sayee and Subbulakshmi.  In the second post, Sayee-Subbulakshmi's training with Muthuswami Pillai and their film choreographies, both by Muthuswami Pillai and other dance directors, will get center stage.  And in the third part, the work of P.A. Periyanayaki and R. Padma in films and their exciting relation to Sayee-Subbulakshmi will be excavated.  I suppose this is the official first post of my much-delayed "Remembering Film Choreographers" series!

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V.S. Muthuswami Pillai demonstrating an adavu (source, credit: Samudri Archives)

My favorite online articles for understanding the nattuvanar's role in Bharathanatyam dance, then and now, are "The Rise and Fall of the Nattuvanar" by A. Seshan and "Where are the Master Gurus?" by Gowri Ramnarayan.  From all of the reading I have done, my understanding is that while the role of a nattuvanar (hereditary dance guru, conductor, and choreographer) in Bharathanatyam has changed significantly over the last century, nattuvanars were traditionally members of a hereditary community of non-Brahmin, professional musicians and dancers (often called Isai Velalar) that made their living through arts of their exclusive domain. At the top of the community's hierarchy were two professional and specialized ensembles performing distinctive art forms known as periya melam and chinna melam.  The periya melam focused on performing stylized instrumental music to accompany temple rituals and other festivities and featured the powerful and rousing nadaswaram/nagaswaram.  The chinna melam focused on devadasi dance performances led by nattuvanars who taught the devadasis of the community and conducted their performances.  The dance of the chinna melam ensemble was also called names like Sadir or Dasiattam, and it was this dance that was reconstructed and named Bharatanatyam in the 1930s as nonhereditary dancers from outside the community began learning and performing the art.

Nattuvangam is the name given to a nattuvanar's conducting of a performance, and it comprises of striking the cymbals (talam) to match and mimic the sound of the dancer’s feet and salangai (ankle bells), reciting the rhythmic vocal syllables (solukattus in patterns called jathis) to pair with nritta (abstract, "pure" dance), singing in classical style, controlling the tempo (laya) of the dance, and serving to lead and conduct the orchestra as a whole.  The nattuvanar was the absolute authority of the dance form and served as the devadasi's guru/teacher/choreographer in an intensive guru-shishya (teacher-student) relationship.  Traditional nattuvanars dedicated their entire existence to teaching and conducting the dance form and training in its related functions (music).  The hereditary system allowed the art to be passed down from generation to generation usually by being born into a family of artists or moving into one to be a disciple of the art form.

Many of the artists in these communities incorporated the name of the place of their family origin into their name, so one sees names like Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai (from Pandanallur village), Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai (from Vazhuvoor village), T/Thanjavur Balasaraswati (from Thanjavur), or the subject of this post Vaitheeswarankoil Muthuswami Pillai (after the Vaitheeswaran Koil temple).

Sujatha's article on Muthuswami Pillai in Sruti magazine is an enlightening read that provides a personal view of what life for members of these traditional communities might have been like.  The article is best read in full, but here I've summarized what were for me the most interesting parts with a few quotations of Sujatha's here and there in italics.

V.S. Muthuswami Pillai (Vaitheeswaran Koil Sethuraman Muthuswami Pillai) was born in 1921 (d. 1992) in the village Vaitheeswaran Koil to a traditional family of dancers, nattuvanars, and musicians.  He grew to love dance and nattuvangam as a child, but “boyish enthusiasm gave place in a few years to disillusionment and distaste for the profession, which was at that time held in social contempt.” The Sadir dance of devadasis was performed not only in temples but also at weddings and social functions and while it was a very popular entertainment, it was treated with little respect.  Muthuswami related that the nattuvanars and musicians often spent the night in cowsheds for distant concerts, were given performance spaces consisting only of a rough carpet and small bench for the harmonium, and much of the audience left before the dance began.  The pay was not great, but it was more than the salary and rice he received for his nattuvangam service at the temple.

When the bill to ban devadasi dance in temples was introduced in 1927-28,“the uncertain future prompted several nattuvanars to leave their villages and migrate to urban centres, where upper and middle class girls had started showing an interest in learning the art.  The celluloid medium was a new frontier and a veritable gold rush commenced.” At age 15, Muthuswami moved toward Madras with his guardian, Vaitheeswarankoil Meenakshisundaram Pillai, who entered films like many of his contemporaries and directed the dances of his famous students, the sisters Yogam and Mangalam. For Muthuswami, a village boy,“the arc lights and the proscenium stage must have been a novel experience.  Dance was becoming the entertainment of the elite and the proletariat.”  At first I thought Muthuswami guardian was the famous nattuvanar Pandanallur Meenakshisundaram Pillai, but soon I learned to seek out the prefix of the name—in this case Vaitheeswarankoil, not Pandanallur!

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Kattumannarkoil Muthukumara Pillai and VS Muthuswami Pillai (source)

Muthuswami soon struck out on his own and advanced his Bharatanatyam training from the eminent nattuvanar Kattumannarkoil Muthukumar(appa) Pillai.  Muthukumar was“held in high regard by his peers” which “must have been a revelation to young Muthuswami, who had until then chafed under the ignominious treatment meted out to nattuvanars and devadasis.” After it became to difficult to “eke out a living in the village” teaching dance and conducting recitals, Muthuswami joined the dance school Nrithyodaya ran by K. Subrahmanyam, father of Padma Subrahmanyam.  It was a hotbed of creativity where many masters of various Indian dance and music traditions were brought together to teach, though the performances were apparently fusions of various traditions falling under the term “Oriental Dance.”

Muthuswami soon entered films which I will cover below.  Later in his life, in what has been called his "French Period," he found his creative peak concocting new adavus and movements for French nationals who had come to India to study from him culminating in his most prized student Dominique Delorme.  Sujatha describes it as a unique bani (style) and that "the traditional format was intact, but he had improvised and embellished, using movements hitherto unknown in Bharatanatyam" such as adavus the rotated around a global axis or performed with one hand only.  These innovations were done after he had finished directing dances for films.


In the mid 1940s, Muthuswami Pillai entered films and directed for 30 or so through the mid-1960s.   Lucky for us Sujatha lists "some films in which he was dance director"!  Sujatha's list doesn't include dates, so I have added them from my research, and the films are in Tamil unless otherwise specified:

Kanda Lila (likely Sri Kanda Leela 1938-9), Sathi Murali (1941), Rishyasringar (1941), Sabapathi (1941), Paithiakkaran (1947), Rukmangadan (1947), Apurva Chintamani (1000 Thalai, 1947), Devadasi (1948), Vethala Ulagam (1948), Inbavalli (1949), Rattakkanner (1954), Malaikkallan (1954), Akki Ramudu (Telugu, 1954), Koondukkili (1954), Doctor Savitri (1954-55), Marma Veeran (1956), New Delhi (Hindi, 1956), President Panchaksharam (1959), Kann Thirandadu (1958), Parthiban Kanavu (1960), Irumbuthirai (1960), Baghdad Thirudan (1960), Chittoor Rani Padmini (1963), Arunagirinathar (1964), Bhakta Dhruva (Malayalam, Unknown).

Also to add to the list is Madanamala (1948) which according to Randor Guy had dances choreographed by Muthuswami and Vedantham Raghavaiah.

Lots of caution is warranted when trusting claims about film choreographies, especially in lists like the one above that appear to be drawn from personal memory.  Film credits often reveal multiple dance directors, but the choreographers themselves will often recall their work in such a way that it sounds as if they choreographed all of the dances in a film.  I consider the credits in the film's introductory title cards the only way of verifying claims 100%, which for South Indian films means that I must relentlessly pester my Tamil and Telugu friends and loved ones to translate for me (thank you!!).  When there are multiple choreographers listed, I can only rely on educated guesswork in the absence of statements from the choreographer regarding the exact dances of their creation.  I wish I could get a hold of Muthuswami's biography that I recently learned about!

After trying to view all of Muthuswami's film choreographies that are available, one thing became clear—he is responsible for some beautiful Bharatanatyam numbers in Indian cinema!  Most of the dances I have featured on my blog previously, but I am especially excited about the devadasi-style one I've not seen before.  Here is my research on his film choreographies outside of Sayee-Subbulakshmi and R. Padma whose work willl be the subject of the next post installments.

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Source

Vyjayanthimala is well-remembered among the South Indian imports to Hindi cinema for being one of the first to introduce semi-classical dance. While the bulk of her film-dance-ography features North Indian and Kathak-based dances, her South Indian dances based primarily in Bharatanatyam were among her most exciting showcasing her speed and form. But they weren't very authentic and seemed designed to evoke "classical art" through a "pseudo-classical style [that] is perhaps a filmic equivalent of calendar art's version of Ajanta murals and Tanjore glass paintings, taking over the icon of the large-hipped, full-bosomed beauty developed e.g. by Ravi Varma" (Rajadhyaksha). Surprisingly, it was Gopi Krishna of all people who was responsible for her most well-known but not-very-authentic Bharatanatyam dances in Hindi films, namely Prince, Amrapali, Suraj, and Chhoti Si Mulaqat.  She also had a well-known, riveting dance duel with Padmini choreographed surprisingly by Hiralal in the Tamil film Vanjikkottai Valiban which gave Padmini all the Bharatanatyam-inspired movements but had a completely different feel than Gopi Krishna's choreographies above (its not a pale imitation or a faux-knock off but rather a creative inspiration close to its roots).

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In New Delhi

What seems much less well-known is that Vyjayanthimala had another set of South Indian dances in films that were almost about as authentic as you can get with film Bharatanatyam. As I have found repeatedly, it took the skills of a hereditary nattuvanar to pull this off—in Vyjayanthimala's case, Muthuswami Pillai!  His choreography that gets the most attention is for Vyjayanthimala's Alarippu number in the Hindi film New Delhi.  But I've discovered that Muthuswami choreographed four other films of Vyjayanthimala's, three Tamil and one Hindi: Chitoor Rani Padmini, Marma Veeran (1956), Irumbuthirai (1960), and Patrani (Hindi, 1956).  In addition to these Tamil films being named among Sujatha's list above, V.A.K. Ranga Rao in his Sruti article on Vyjayanthimala's film dances noted she had a "classical number" in Marma Veeran, and the actual film credits for Irumbuthirai and Patrani both list Muthuswamy Pillai as a dance director (sole for Irumbuthirai, and one of three for Patrani). Given the evidence above, I think it is safe to assume that Irumbuthirai and Patrani both had at least one Bharatanatyam-based dance by Vyjayanthimala.  Now let's get to watching them!

New Delhi - Vyjayanthimala's Bharatanatyam Alarippu piece here is perhaps the most iconic and authentic classical dance of hers in film.  It's a surprising inclusion in a Hindi film made possible by her character being a Tamil girl. In Vyjayanthimala's memoir Bonding (available on Google Books with a preview that coincidentally spans the parts where she talks about her film dances!), she relates, "in one particular film, there was an instance when dance director Muthuswami Pillai was not very pleased with a certain bol sung by Lata for a Bharatanatyam piece.  When I mentioned this to music director Jaikishen, he said he would ask Lata if she could redo only that bit."  I think the "one particular film" is the dance below in New Delhi, which had Jaikishen as the Music Director and Lata as a playback singer.  At least one other film of Vyjayanthimala's had this set up as well (Patrani), but I think New Delhi is the likely candidate given its rare usage of dance syllables/bols.


Chittoor Rani Padmini (Tamil, 1963) - "Devi Vithayar Bhavani" - Compare this dance to Gopi Krishna's choreographies above and you can immediately see the difference!  Vyjayanthimala here is all form and lines and crisp perfection with a few moments of embellishment and film license thrown in for good measure. Vyjayanthimala is said to have another dance for the king at the end of the movie.  I wish I could locate it! V.A.K. Ranga Rao noted this film, along with Marma Veeran, only received a "lukewarm response at the box office" and is "sadly forgotten."



Patrani (Hindi, 1956) - While this film is not part of Sujatha's list, it has lots of dances of Vyjayanthimala and as you can see from the credits (left), it was choreographed by Muthuswami Pillai, presumably.  If true, it would be another rare Hindi film choreography of his.  The only problem is not a single dance among the low-Q copies online looks like it was choreographed by Muthuswami!  Maybe there was a dance scene, not part of a song, that he choreographed for.

Irumbu Thirai (Tamil, 1960) - The only dance that exists in an online copy of this film is a group dance featuring Vyjayanthimala that looks very similar to the North-Indian style one choreographed by Gopi Krishna in the Hindi film it was remade from, Paigham (1959). Yet Muthuswami Pillai is listed as the sole choreographer in the credits! Perhaps there is another dance cut out from this print?

Marma Veeran (Tamil, 1956) - VAK Ranga Rao says she has a classical number in this, and since it's referenced along with Chittoor Rani Padmini I bet it's a great one!  Supposedly it was dubbed in Hindi as Piya Milan, but I haven't yet been able to locate video of either version outside of Helen's spectacular dance in Piya Milan (who is that guy!).

Muthuswami started choreographing for films around 1938-1941—years before his debut with Sayee Subbalakshmi in 1954—and finished his last film dance in 1964.  The dances below are perfect samples of the way his choreography likely differed in form and depiction in the early years of South Indian Cinema versus the later years.  Reminder: I'm saving all of Sayee-Subbulakshmi's dances for my next post!

Aayiram Thalaivaangi Apoorva Chinthamani (Tamil, 1947, aka "1000 Thalai...") - THIS! This is my favorite devadasi-style dance in films that I have seen. Everything from her pyjama-style costume with the hanging-cloth front to her speed in the pure dance segments to her charming, expressive face is simply beautiful.  In another dancer the movements would look uncompleted using modern Bharatanatyam standards, but this dancer shows how the style can be aesthetically pleasing. The credits do not list any names for the dance choreography, but given the classical nature of the dance and setting (and the lack of classicism seen in all the other dances in the film) and the film's inclusion on Sujatha's list, I think it's a safe bet the choreographer is Muthuswami for this particular dance. Also note the rather unusual court dance at 2:09:05. The film's subject was a "popular folk tale about a sinner in saint's garb who had Chintamani, a princess, under his thumb," and in addition to being a huge box-office smash it was apparently the longest South Indian film with a running length of over five hours at one time!


Arunagirinathar (Tamil, 1964) - This film told the well-known story of the man Arunagirinathar who after a life of visiting devadasis and becoming diseased begged for forgiveness at a temple and was transformed into a saint by the god Muruga.  The credits identify the dance directors as Mutthuswami, BS Murthy Ramaswamy, and Thangaraj.  In the video below, Lord Muruga (I believe) is seen dancing.  The little boy (is it a boy?) is a fabulous dancer!  Due to its classicism, it is clearly the work of Muthuswami.