Monday 19 December 2011

The Dance History Column - Subbudu - Ashish Mohan Khokar

There are critics and critics, some glorify their travels, some their connections. One man stood just by the power of his pen. His name was PV Subramaniam.

He would slide quietly into any available seat of a hall and inconspicuously observe. He did not wear flashy clothes to attract attention or hug and kiss, later only to knife in the back!  This man, our man, his opinion counted and his observation set the tone for the season. The man - PV Subramaniam - strode like a giant in the field of dance and Carnatic music criticism. “An Andhra family doctor friend never called us three brothers by proper names. As it happens in Telugu, he added ‘du’ to each of our names. Hence, Subbudu, Krishnadu and Ramadu.  My brothers shrugged it off. To me, it stuck like glue.”


Read the article in the site

5 comments:

  1. Thank you for the enlightening article on Subbudu. It is amazing to read about his audacity to stand up against people at odds with his reviews. Dance history is incomplete without the history of critics such as Subbudu.
    Thanks.

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  2. Those days were great , when you waited for the Friday newspaper hoping to get a review from subbudu sir or Shantaji. It is an inspiring article and I hope it becomes the making of another 'honest' critic. the dance world really needs to hear honest opinions and unbiased truths

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  3. very nice. ethics lessons for critics
    PriyaLasya

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  4. I admired from a distance of this great man with pen as his weapon to tear into the Art critics of many a doyens of music and dance

    Surya Narayana Murthy
    San Francisco California

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  5. Thanks Ashish ji, for such a nice article about Subuddu.

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