Mallika Sarabhai Appointed as new Chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam

Renowned dancer and activist Mallika Sarabhai has been appointed as the chancellor of the Kerala Kalamandalam deemed university. The department of cultural affairs, Kerala Government issued an order regarding this on Tuesday. 

Last month the government had amended rules of the university to remove Governor Arif Mohammad Khan from the post of its chancellor. Since it is a deemed to be university, norms of the University Grants Commission will not be applicable to it, said the government.

Daughter of famous dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and the well-known space scientist Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika is an accomplished Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer who has specialized in using the arts for social change and transformation. She is currently the director of  the prestigious arts institution, Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, Ahmedabad that was founded by her parents. 

A  PhD holder in organisational behaviour,  Mallika played Draupadi in Peter Brook’s The Mahabharata for five years, first in French and then English, performing in France, Germany and the United States, amongst other countries. The play ran for five long years and later made into a film.

 Prior to this, she had made a name for herself in the Gujarati and Hindi film industries.In the mid 90s Mallika began to develop her own contemporary dance vocabulary and went on to create short and full-length works which have been presented in North America, Scotland, Singapore, China and Australia, as well as in India.

An activist for education, human rights and women’s empowerment, she has created numerous stage, TV and online productions which have raised awareness.

Her autobiographical book  “Free Fall: My Experiments with Living”has been recently published by Speaking Tiger, 

“ Mallika Sarabhai is a great personality who utilised art and literature for social reformation,” said cultural minister VN Vasavan.