Kalamandalam Hyderali
Kalamandalam Hyderali (1946–2006) was one of the best Kathakali singers of his generation, and the first non-Hindu artiste to make a mark in the four-century-old classical dance-drama from
Kerala in south India.Hyderali was a native of Ottupara in Wadakkanchery of Thrissur district. His father, Moidutty, was an exponent of Mappila Paattu.The art world first took notice of little Hyderali’s talent when he won a local-level competition, singing the Malayalam film song "Kalle Kaniville".It was when he was 11 years old that Hyderali joined Kerala Kalamandalam. Hailing from a poor family, his parents had struggled to pay the admission fee—incidentally "a Hindu and a Christian" helped him secure admission in the premier performing arts institute, as Hyderali later recalls in his autobiography. At Kalamandalam, he received training gurus like Kalamandalam Neelakantan Nambisan, Sivaraman Nair and
Kalamandalam Gangadharan. Madambi Subrahmanian Namboodiri, Kalamandalam Sankaran Embranthiri andKalamandalam Tirur Nambissan were his contemporaries. On passing out, he hunting for a job for a while, before M.K.K Nair, a patron of the arts, offered him a job in the FACT Kathakali school in Ambalamedu off Kochi along with other gems of Kathakali such as Kalamandalam Keshavan (Chenda instructor), Kalamandalam Sankara Warrier (Maddalam instructor), Kalamdanalam Sankaran Embranthiri (Kathakali Music), Vaikom Karunakaran Nair and FACT Baskaran (Kathakali instructors).
Hyderali, along with Kalamandalam Sankaran Embranthiri and Venmani Haridas, was instrumental in remoulding the aesthetics of Kathakali music and making it more popular.Hyderali was blessed with a light, pliant and sonorous voice that tuned well to softer and melodramatic scenes on Kathakali stage. His emotive singing used to earn him praise from masters like Kalamandalam Gopi.It was Ali and his inseparable friend Kalamandalam Sankaran Embranthiri who gave a Carnatic touch to Kathakali music. They started rendering Kathakali music in independent music programmes, without the visual background. Their innovation has since come to stay and there are now different audiences in Kerala keen to listen to Kathakali music alone, without visual performers.
Hyderali, suave and soft-spoken, nurtured the wish to see Lord Krishna in real life, but had to occasionally suffer professional humiliation on religious grounds, as entry to temples (where a chunk of Kathakali shows finds stage) in Kerala is barred for non-Hindus. Kathakali aficionados recall how those in control of an ancient temple in Chengannur actually broke down a part of the temple wall and erected a
platform there for Ali to sing for the Kathakali performers inside the compound, since his Muslim identity barred him from being allowed inside.
Hyderali, by the 1990s, had gained reputation for his expertise in handling both romantic/dramatic and choreographically dense classical stories in Kathakali. But, just as his career was
peaking, a road accident at Mullurkara near his hometown, while he was on his way to his alma mater driving a car, claimed the musician's life on January 5, 2006.
Hyderali's music, basically built on a throat profile that sounds more upcountry (like Hindustani classical or Ghazal), seem to live on -- at least in parts in the next couple of generations of Kathakali musicians. Prime among them stands Pathiyoor Sankarankutty, who Hyderali groomed during the
latter's younger days. A section of buffs also finds Kalamandalam Hareesh to possess streaks of similarity
with Hyderali's style of singing.
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