Now Reading: Folk arts bring unsung Tamil freedom fighters to life in Chennai
-
01
Folk arts bring unsung Tamil freedom fighters to life in Chennai
A Chennai show on August 16 will use Tamil folk arts to highlight lesser-known freedom fighters. Titled 'Itihaas Ke Pannon Se', the event at Kalakshetra Foundation opens with Villu Paatu, an oral…
The Story in Brief
A Chennai show on August 16 will use Tamil folk arts to highlight lesser-known freedom fighters. Titled 'Itihaas Ke Pannon Se', the event at Kalakshetra Foundation opens with Villu Paatu, an oral tradition, telling the story of a singer-actress whose role in the freedom struggle remains unrecorded. Organised by Heritage Stories and Performing Arts, the evening also includes oral storytelling on Khadi, freedom songs with live painting, and a dance drama based on another unsung fighter. Chief guest is Tamil Nadu handlooms secretary Venkatesh; guest of honour is Niranjan Bharathi, great-great-grandson of Mahakavi Subramania Bharathi.
The Indian Opinion
National narratives often skip local heroes who fought the British far from Delhi. This Chennai event uses Villu Paatu and other folk arts to correct that erasure, but hype around 'unsung' figures can risk tokenism unless audiences genuinely learn new names and sacrifices. The test is whether organisers share specific deeds of the singer-actress freedom fighter or the lesser-known protagonist of the dance drama, not just warm feelings about courage.
Source: newindianexpress.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
