Brief outline of the project on History of circus in Thalassery and About the people

who lived with that history

Language of the project: Malayalam

Thalassery is a medium-sized town in Kannur district of Kerala. Before the

formation of Kerala, the town was part of the Malabar district of the Madras state and was
a major trade point and also the judicial centre of the
British administration. Thalassery still figures in the
postcolonial imaginary as a show piece of the colonial
heritage. For instance,the official website of Kerala State
Tourism Department boasts that Thalassery is often
called the city of “three Cs” in the state—cricket, cake,
and circus. It is the place where the British first played
cricket in India, the first cakes introduced by the British
were baked here in the Mambally’s Royal Biscuit Factory,
and Indian circus had its origins in this town as well.
While looking at the history of the Indian Circus, it is
embedded with the arrival of the modern and the
remodelling of the gender, caste structure in the
post-colonial era in the states, especially Kerala. There
also emerged a new trans-cultural and trans-national
space in these circus tents and which had a greater
social impact on the people of Thalassery.
The circus arena in India was established when
Vishnupant Chatre met Keeleri Kunhikannan Teacher, a
martial arts and gymnastics teacher who made a contract
to set up a training camp in Thalassery to train acrobats
for his Great Indian circus. This was in 1888 at his ‘Kalari’ in Pulambil which turned into
a Circus School in Chirakkara in 1901. Further, numerous people got training from the
school which in fact made Pariyali Kannan (one of his students) to create his own circus
company called the Grand Malabar Circus. Subsequently, all the circus companies
started by Keeleri Kunhikannan’s disciples became world famous in their performance
and skills. This attracted a lot of people to get trained to get into the circus for their
livelihood. One of them was Kannan Bombayo who became an international circus star
for performing double somersaults on a bounding rope and was supposedly referred to
as ‘the jumping devil of India’ by Adolf Hitler.
The historical importance of the big Circuses in Thalassery such as Kamala
Circus, a giant American style six pole, three ring circus- the very first and the only kind
in Asia, not only made fame over the world through their tour, but also contributed to the
economy of Kerala soon after independence when unemployment was very prevalent.
Most of the major circus companies in Indian circus like Raymon,Rajkamal, Gemini,
Jumbo, Great Bombay, National etc. originated from this city.

The circus Town: Thalassery

During my student life at Thalassery Brennen College, I met Manish who was in
my same batch, I came to know that his mother was in the circus. When I went to
Manish's house in Palayad, which is next to the college, I was able to talk to his mother
(Pushpa). Pushpa Chechi joined the circus at the age of thirteen and she worked and
lived in the circus for more than 20 years. Pushpechi’s husband
is a native of Nepal who worked in the circus company she was
in. From Pushpechi, I heard about people who went to the
circus in their childhood in and around Thalassery. Most of them
couldn’t even get primary education because the circus training
started from early childhood, at around 7-10 years of age to
acquire flexibility in acrobats and other gymnastic
performances.
Nevertheless, Pushpechi joined the circus due to her
own interest in the circus. But she also mentioned that a large
part of those who joined the circus around that time were forced
to do so due to the poverty of the homes of that time. This made me think and, with the
help of Pushpechi, I met some other women in the neighbouring area who were also in
the circus. I started realising that the town and especially the places around the campus
were mostly populated by circus people. There are a lot of people who came from
countries like Nepal, came to Thalassery to learn, perform and earn in the circus, married
and settled down in Kannur itself and hence Dharmadam village was earlier called
‘Second Dubai’ they say. Also, the reaction of the society in earlier times were deeply
entrenched in Brahmanical patriarchy towards the women who roamed around the
subcontinent performing amazing feats with their
bodies in skimpy attire.
With better living conditions and the
emergence of other employment sectors, the
migration of people from Thalassery to the circus
decreased after the eighties. To preserve the
circus tradition of Thalassery, the Kerala
government established a circus academy at
Chirakkuni in 2010, but it had to be closed down in
2016 due to lack of students and other issues.
When Steffi and I started talking about this
project, we thought of making a documentary
about the lives of the women of Thalassery who
were circus performers. After meeting and talking
to many circus-related people in these regions as
part of the project's research, we felt that the
circus history spanning over a century in the home
town of Indian circus itself should be documented
in a more comprehensive manner.

Research Methodology:
For decades, hundreds of men and women
had been joining the circuses around the country
in various capacities—as artists, ring boys,
trainers, technicians, and entrepreneurs. Hence, my research starts by visiting and
interviewing various circus artists mainly women over the areas of the town, Melur,
Andalur, Kavumbhagam, Dharmadam, Chirakkuni, Vadakkumbad, and Kadirur.
I also will be interviewing Gemini Sankaran, founder of Gemini and Jumbo
Circus, one of the pioneers and disciple of Keeleri Kunhikannan Teacher who is the
great master of Indian Circus ro know more about the glorious past of circus in India
and how it changed over the years. Also, Sreedharan Champad is a circus artist turned
author and scriptwriter who wrote around 16 books on circus and its history who can
guide me to understand the transition and social impact of circus in Thalassery in the
early 20th century. Further, to trace internationally renowned artists of that time such as
Damoo Dhotre, Kannan Bombayoo and Keeleri Kunhikannan himself.
Since I belong to Thalassery, and being a filmmaker myself, I would want to do a
deep research and document the glorious past and the social impact of the circus in
Thalassery and the Thalassery-Malayali women in the circus.
 The outcome of the project will be a short-length documentary film about circus
history in Thalassery and the women in circus/ social impact including the decline of the
circus due to animal ban, rise of digital entertainments and lack of innovations etc. The
submission will include video and audio recordings of interviews with former circus
artists/workers (mainly women in Thalassery region), circus trainers, currently
performing artists, circus owners from Thalassery (Gemini Shankaran and his son Ajay
Shankar of Jumbo/Gemini circus, Balagopal and his son Dileep of The Great Bombay
circus to name a few), historians, circus union office bearers, photographs of old tents,
artists, performances, circus advertisement notices, newspaper/magazine cut-outs,
documents and other findings.

Slanting Wire Ladder balance

 Pushpa and friends outside circus tent

Flying Trapeze in National Circus by Vennila (Darmadam, Thalassery)

The Great Bombay Circus

Jeep jump over the rope

BUDGET BREAKDOWN:
Pre-production: INR 30,000
Production: INR 80,000
Post-Production: INR 90,000
Total Budget: INR 2,00,000

Contacts:

STEFFI E
+91 7338794282, +918289871459
steffie285@gmail.com

Address:
Sri Priyam,
Chalode,
PO Edayannur,
Kannur,
Kerala

ABHINAV C
+91 8281458579
ste.abhinav@gmail.com

Address:
Harisree,
PO Mangattidam,
Kannur,670643
Kerala