Madavoor Vasudevan Nair is a veteran Kathakali artiste and one of the last practitioners of the pristine south Kerala-style Kapplingadu school of the classical dance-drama from the south Indian state.[1]
A native of Madavoor in Thiruvananthapuram district, Vasudevan Nair, born on April 7, 1929, is a prime disciple of the legendary Chenganoor Raman Pillai. He excels largely in anti-hero kathi roles like Ravanan, Duryodhanan, Keechakan, Jarasandhan, Banan, Kamsan, Hiranyakasipu and Narakasuran, but also handles other Puranic characters like Hanuman and Hamsam, besides the black-bearded Kaatalan (woodsman) and minukku roles like Brahmanan and Mannaan (washerman).[2]
He has worked for nine years from 1968 in the Thekkan Kalari (southern school of Kathakali) of Kerala Kalamandalam and has later been principal of another performing art institute called Kalabharathi in Pakalkkuri near Kottarakkara. Earlier, as a teenager, in 1947, he was appointed as a member of the Kottaram Kaliyogam by the Maharaja of Travancore. He held that post till 1964. In 2011, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.
Chennai-based Bharatanatyam danseuse, Ganga Thampi, is his daughter.[3] Vasudevan Nair lives in Kavanadu in Kollam district.[4]