Love and war
BIBHUTI MISHRA
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Chitrangada, staged by Vishwa Bharati, was a delight to watch.
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VIBRANT FARE `Chitrangada' is an enchanting tale about the warrior-princess.
The onset of monsoon is the time for celebrations. So Pragati hosted a cultural evening Srabana-Sandhya in which artistes from Vishwa Bharati, Shantiniketan participated.
The evening began with music rendered by Sandip Sen but the highlight of the evening was the staging of the dance drama Chitrangada.
Chitrangada was a retelling of Rabindranath Tagore's feminist dance drama. The king and queen of Manipur pray for a son but they get Chitrangada, a daughter. They rear her as a son and she becomes a warrior-princess.
She is out hunting in the forest with her friends, when she encounters the legendary hero, Arjuna, the protagonist of the epic, Mahabharata. She falls in love. Chitrangada offers herself to Arjuna in marriage.
He refuses her on grounds of vowed celibacy. Although Chitrangada is in tears, the warrior in her is undefeated. She asks Madana, the God of Love, for the weapon she needs, `beauty', for one year.
A transformed Chitrangada has Arjuna entranced by her beauty, who breaks his vow of celibacy. But soon he learns of the woman who rules Manipur - one who loves like a mother and fights like a tigress. He longs to meet his equal.
It is time for Chitrangada to return her `stolen' beauty to Madana.
Chitrangada, the Warrior Princess, enters her own court and demands the right and power to be an equal in prosperity and adversity if Arjuna still wants to marry her. Arjuna accepts her on her own terms.
This lyrical dance drama, a story of love and war was a delight to watch. K. Jatindra Singh was the choreographer while Ashok Ganguly composed the music of this colourful spectacle.
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
