Characters enliven Vyasa's epic
PREMA NANDAKUMAR
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It was indeed a feat of endurance as Karmugil Kalai Manram presented `Janma,' a segment from the Mahabahrata.
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Photo: R. Ashok.
MARATHON EFFORT: A scene from `Janma.'
For centuries dramatists have tried to control the flow of Vyasa 's narrative to get focused on one theme or another. But they have ended up being overwhelmed by the epic and Vyasa has had the last laugh. This happened again on July 15, when Karmugil Kalai Manram put on boards `Janma' written and directed by Muthu Velazhagan.
The Rasika Ranjana Sabha was overflowing and the costume extravaganza began right on the announced time and went on for nearly four hours. It was certainly a feat of endurance for the director and his associates to manage so many characters on the stage and keep the storyline straight, and the dialogue on track. No wonder the show was a commendable success.
The first two hours crisply flashed the origin and development of the Kasi Princess Amba's hatred for Bhishma. The legend has often been used for vocalisations of feminism in recent times. In the male-dominated society, Amba finds herself rejected by her own lover, the Salva king; by Bhishma because of his vow of chastity; and by her own father who has no place for a daughter rejected by the family which had taken her by force. Remember the rejected Hindu women after the Partition holocaust!
Rani Jaya as Amba was outstanding, whether in love with the Salva or in terror at the turn of events in her swayamvara or furious as the rejected maiden. The scene in which she learns martial arts from a hunter was imaginatively presented.
Amba's vengeance
Amba is reborn as Sikhandin to Drupada and wreaks her vengeance on Bhishma on the Kurukshetra field. M. Anubhavya managed to spew concentrated fire from her eyes throughout her presence on the stage. L.R. Suganthi's Draupadi was satisfactory. However, in the latter part, the telling got bogged down to the happenings in the Sabha Parva and the Kurukshetra war.
R. Jothi as Bhishma was declamatory and fierce when young, and amazingly mellowed when he appeared in his old age, speaking in measured accents, revealing a seasoned actor.
Nearly 40 scenes were used to convey the tale in an unhurried manner.
Bhishma's egoism is countered by Amba's pleading that women have the right to choose their partners. While there were too many actors on the stage and the quick change in scenes made retention difficult, there were some that clamoured for attention. Jothimani was a Nagayya — like Kasiraja in his moving speech to Amba while as Bhima he showed his impatience with those tiny gestures which make all the difference between a good and a capable actor. The Kabuki-style entrance of the hunter was refreshing. Though Parasurama appeared with no sacred thread, he looked every inch a warrior-renunciate. The exchange of womanhood and maleness between the Gandharva and Amba remained inchoate and unconvincing. The projection of Vichitravirya as an idiot to produce loud humour was an unnecessary change as Vyasa finds him handsome, godly, and a dharmatma.
If there was a surprise after an actor got up to speak, it was Kanakaraman.
As an aged Krishna painted blue, he seemed a ready target for laughter and catcalls but Kanakaraman was simply superb with his gestures, his considered sentences, his low-throated gurgle of a laughter, his self-conscious smile and soundless wit. His presence and words seemed a fine antidote to the devastating presence of death on the stage because of Amba's (and Sikandin's) repeated call for Bhishma's end. The costumes were colourful and the sound and light effects excellent.
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