G Venu: Notating 1,300 classical dance gestures, one mudra, one rasa at a time over decades

Here’s why Sakuntalam, Venu’s Kutiyattam piece, is as central to contemporary India as it is to classical dance

One day in late December, Gopalan Venu, more popular as G Venu sat holding his knees, his back ramrod straight, on the plush sofa of a green room, where shortly, his play, Sakuntalam, was to be performed. Around him, the artistes — which included his dancer-daughter Kapila Venu, a virtuoso in her own right — were busy folding pleats into their costumes. They were preparing to go into another chamber to get ready, put on their costumes and jewels,

Gopalan Venu (Natan Kairali)