Sri. Kalamandalam Hyderali was undoubtedly his generation's doyen of Kathakali Sangeetham and one of the best Kathakali singers ever. The film 'Kalamandalam Hyderali' is a brilliantly directed, beautiful cinematic adaptation of extraordinary life struggle of Hyderali, tracing from childhood.
Master Raihan did a good job as young Hyderali and one such indelible occasion is the part where the young Hyderali is interviewed by Vallathol Narayana Menon , Mukunda Raja etc... The film culminates into the controversial incident where the temple wall is pulled down thereby making a stage for Hyderali, who in that situation is outcast by some ultra-orthodox Hindus. The film is inspiring and relevant, in the sense that even in these times artists are not allowed to perform in temple premises simply because of their religion or because they don't belong to a particular community or caste. The climax song and sequence is the highlight of the movie. Late M J Radhakrishnan sir's cinematography is unparallel and deserves special mention. Music composition and songs by Sri.Kottakal Madhu, Sri. Sreevalsan J Menon and others are spellbinding. Renji Panicker and Nikhil Renji Panicker have done very well. Paris Laxmi, T G Ravi, Ashokan (as Sankaran Embranthiri), Meera Nair (as Kalamandalam Kshemavathy) have done justice to their roles.
I'm looking forward to watch it again on media streaming platforms and other OTT media service.
