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Tale well choreographed
From "Andal Charitham"... simple narration. - Pic by R. Shivaji Rao.
ADYAR K. LAKSHMANAN'S Bharatha Choodamani presented "Godha Govindam" (Andal Charitham) a dance drama by the students of Nritya Kala Bharathi of Bharateeya Vidya Kendram, Visakhapatnam, in Chennai, recently.
Written in simple Telugu by Akondi Suryanarayana Sastry, set to music by D. Pasupathi and choreographed by Avasarala Rukmaji Rao, the dance drama gave a rare opportunity for Chennai rasikas to witness a full-length dance drama on the life of Andal. Kodhai as she was known in Tamil, is the lovable maiden who ruled the heart of Rangamannar and was hence called Andal (one who ruled). Her being discovered as a baby in the Tulsi garden by the childless Bhaktha, Vishnuchittar, his bringing her up lovingly and feeding her with the stories of Lord Vishnu, his adoration of the daughter, her devotion and steadfast love for the Lord, her composing of the "Tiruppavai" and "Nachiar Thirumozhi," her dreams, the way in which she is decorated and taken to the sannidhi of Sri Ranganatha in Srirangam and her disappearance into the stone image of the God are stories in the collective memory of Tamils. The story was presented with clarity with no complications of elaborate choreography or abstractions. Dancers A. Deepthi Manasa, A. Sindhu Madhuri , D. Gayatri Vani, K. Radha Rani, Raagamayee Balasubramanyaam , T.Meghana, Master T. N. Chaitanya and Purohith danced beautifully. T. Suguna Rani and V. Sowmya Sree presented an extremely effeminate Vishnuchittar and Ranganathar respectively. Choreography did not help in etching the character of Vishunuchittar properly. The body language could have been altered to bring alive the learned Visnuchittar. Instead Suguna Rani almost portrayed the character in the Nayaki Bhava. But her effort was sincere. Both the younger Goda and the older Goda were a treat to watch. Two of the scenes that could have been cut to less than half their duration — the dream sequence of Goda and the long tillana, which was excellently choreographed.
The elaborate orchestra with stalwarts held their own. . Nattuvangam by the choreographer himself was crisp and correct. Jyothishmathi Sheejith sang soulfully. She was full of bhava and excelled in the viruttams. D. Pasupathi and K. Rama Rao sang excellently in their usual style. All of them were very good when they sang alone but when they sang together, the words could not be heard clearly. The music set by D. Pasupathi suited the mood. Mridangam (L. Baba Prasad), kanjira by (L. Krishna Prasad), flute (A. V. Unnikrishnan), veena (Karukurichi Balaji) and violin (T. K. Padmanabhan) were of high standard.
V. R. DEVIKA
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