Dancers at Trivandrum Gopinath

Kathakali performance featuring the great Indian dancer Guru Gopinath, filmed in remarkable colour by ‘envoy of the Raj’ Clarmont Skrine

This Kathakali dance performance by the palace troupe at Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) features the great Indian dancer Guru Gopinath (1908-87). It was filmed by Clarmont Skrine - known in India as ‘Skrino’ – who had a long career as an ‘envoy of the Raj’. During his time as a Resident in South India a friend wrote: “He was so unlike the stereotyped ICS [Indian Civil Service] dignitaries (the Heaven-born), he was so human and approachable.” The BFI National Archive holds 25 amateur films made by Skrine between 1934 and 1961.