At the 1998 State School Arts Festival in Thiruvananthapuram, P. Shijith created a sensation, winning the first prize in all the five dance events he contested -- Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi, Folk Dance and Kathakali -- besides claiming the now defunct ‘Kalaprathibha’ title. No one has done as well at the Festival. Before or since.
Shijith, who is making his film debut with Veeram adopting the screen name of Shivajith Nambiar, spoke to P.K. Ajith Kumar about his brilliant innings at the School Festival.
It felt nice to be back at the festival venue in Kannur, my home district after so many years. It brought back so many memories of the time I was a student at the Moothedath High School, Thaliparamba.
I loved to dance ever since I began to train under my aunt Kalamandalam Vimala Devi. I enjoyed different forms of dance, though Mohiniyattam was the most challenging of all. It always is for a male, but I relished the challenge and was happy that I could do it so well. Once the judges at the sub-district competition even doubted whether I was indeed a boy!
The competition was extremely tough those days and the standard was quite high. So it felt nice when you heard your names through the public address system.
These days, the names of the prize-winners are not announced, only the Grades are, which I don’t think is the right thing to do. I would also like to see the Kalaprathibha and Kalathilakam titles to be back. There is nothing wrong with recognizing the best performer in any competition.
Right now I am looking forward to the release of my film Veeram, directed by Jayaraj. I have always wanted to be an actor. I am playing Aromal Chekavar in the film.
I am happy that I have finally become an actor, after working as a 3D animator in Bengaluru and a stint in family business in the United States.
EOM
