KATHAKALI CHUTTI
I was first introduced to Kathakali by my grandfather, whose hopeless fanaticism of both kathakali and technology resulted in a shelf filled with video casettes. Through these vintage recordings of performances set against the background of my grandfather's tales of the great sacrifices made by the artists, I grew to idolise this world of bright paint and intense emotions without ever having watched a performance. When I finally watched a performance as a pre-teenager, however, I found myself being drawn away from the stage, into the greenroom I could see from the wooden grill of the building. I saw the half made-up performers lying down to get the chutti done, and decided that I too would take this up. So, as soon as I completed my undergraduation, I relocated to a village in Kerala (Cheruthuruthy) to apprentice under a Chutti artist. I spent a year over there, and completed my arrangkettam as well as did some shows.
TYPES OF CHUTTI I LEARNT
Kathakali has five major veshams based on the characters with different chuttis for each. I learnt each of them during my apprenticeship, and completed my arangkettam in one of them.
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MY WORK
WOMEN'S DAY FESTIVITIES, THRISSUR REGENCY THEATRE (2023)
JALAHALLI SREE AYYAPPAN TEMPLE NAVATRI FESTIVAL (2022)
PRIVATE EVENT: PERFORMANCE FOR KESAVAN NAMBOODIRI'S ANNIVERSARY (2022)
CHITOOR SREE KRISHNA SWAMY TEMPLE (2022)
ARANGKETTAM (2022)
I had the opportunity to participate in the pilot season of the annual Women's Day special Kathakali Festival at Thrissur's Regency Theatre. This landmark event featured an all-women lineup, showcasing artists across both on-stage and off-stage crafts in a 12-hour marathon of performances. As part of the team, I was responsible for creating two Pacha Chuttis, contributing to the visual storytelling of the festival.
Every year, Jalahalli Sree Ayyappan Temple hosts Kathakali troupes from Kerala for nightly performances during their Navaratri festival. As part of the Ashtami festivities, I created a Pacha Chutti for the Purrappad section of the performance.
This was a private event hosted by Mr. Kesavan Namboodiri, for which I created one Pacha Chutti. It was the most challenging and exciting Chutti I’ve done—partly because it was for a long and grand performance, and partly because I had personal ties to the hosts.
The Chittoor Sree Krishna Swamy Temple Festival is an annual celebration featuring a five-day nocturnal Kathakali event. I contributed on two of these nights, creating Pacha Chuttis for each performance. This was the first major program I worked on, making it both a significant milestone and a challenging experience.
I did my Arangkettam in the february of 2022 at the annual showcase of the Kathakali School of Arts. I did the chutti for a student showcase presenting my work in the presence of my gurus and several eminent Chutti and Kathakali artists.
 Pacha Chutti on Meghana Palasheri |  Process of Applying the Chutti |  Applying the Paper |
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 Private Event for Kesavan Namboodiri |  Cutting the Paper |  Cleaning up the Batter |
 Finishing Touches |  Arangkettam |  Finishing Touches During my Arangkettam |
 Pacha Chutti at the Jalahalli Navaratri Festival | Pacha Chutti before Make-Up is Complete |  Pacha Chutti on Stage |
 On-Stage Photograph from the Women's Day Event at Regency Theatre |  Post Completion of Make-Up |