Born in 1919 in Cairo, David Bolland went to prep school in Somerset, before winning a scholarship to King’s School, Worcester. At school he was already making amateur documentaries (with Pathescope 9.5mm film) on such events as the Royal Jubilee of 1935 and the Coronation of George VI in 1937. On leaving he joined the London office of Peirce Leslie & Co. Ltd., a British firm (founded in South India in 1862) that managed tea, coffee and rubber estates as well as shipping and insurance.
War intervened in 1939, and he joined the Militia. Until he was demobilised in 1946 he served as an officer in the 53rd (Welsh) Division), taking part in the 1944 Normandy landings. On service in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, he was mentioned in despatches and awarded an MBE (Military).
At last, in 1946, he sailed to India to take up his post with Peirce Leslie & Co., settling in Calicut in 1950 for the next 17 years. He saw his first Kathakali play in 1954, with the great Kunju Kurup in the leading role. From then until 1971, when he retired from work in India, he saw 146 performances in various parts of Kerala, keeping notes on each and filming many. With the distinguished scholar K.P.S.Menon as mentor and guru, this material formed the basis of his subsequent book. Many of the artists whom he filmed and who became his friends were associated with the Kerala Kalamandalam, and in 1973 he set up an annual prize for the leading graduate.
In 1967 he became the last General Manager of Peirce Leslie and oversaw its transformation (after 105 years) into an Indian public company, becoming its Managing Director in 1968. At the same time he was appointed “Unofficial Correspondent” to the Deputy UK High Commissioner in Madras – equivalent to British Consul in South India and responsible for all consular activities. On retiring from India in 1971, was awarded an OBE (Civil) for his services to the High Commission and the British Community. He remained a Director of Peirce Leslie until 1982, continuing to visit Kerala each year until the early 1990s, watching and filming performances and keeping in touch with Kathakali friends and former colleagues.
Following retirement in 1971 with his wife, Peggy, to Somerset, he built a small viewing cinema and editing studio at their home to work on his collection. He first made the 40-minute Masque of Malabar, and followed this with the shorter Malabar Masque which won 26 awards at international amateur film festivals. In 1980 he published A Guide to Kathakali, now in its third edition and recognised as the best English-language introduction to this form of theatre *.
While living in India he had also made 18 films on other aspects of Indian life and culture and, following retirement, continued to record Kathakali and other forms on video in India, France and the UK. These included valuable documentation of leading artists, the late C. Padmanabhan Nair and N.P.Sankaran Namboodiri, demonstrating Choliyattam the choreographed pieces of Kathakali plays. Other recordings includes examples of theatre, dance and ritual performance as Kutiyattam, Mohiniattam, Ottanthullal, Theyyam and the work of powder painting (Kalam) and make-up (Chutti) artists.
In retirement, David Bolland has continued to lead an active life with his wife (until her death in 2003) in their Somerset community, as church warden and trustee, tax commissioner, school governor and supporter of charities. He has continued to work on his film and video Collection in preparation for the transfer to Rose Bruford College.
* David Bolland. A Guide to Kathakali. Third edition. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pty., 1996. (ISBN 81-207-1833-X).
