When words slipped into silence
GANESH PRABHU
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An era has come to an end with the passing away of Sheni Gopalakrishna Bhat, the doyen of Yakshagana. This champion of rhetoric was an academic at heart and studied thoroughly the roles he played. When he played Ravana, people would actually go back full of sympathy for the epic villain
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PAST MASTER Sheni Gopalkrishna Bhat landed in the world of Yakshagana by chance and became its unparalleled exponent.
With the passing away of the Yakshagana doyen Sheni Gopalkrishna Bhat, commonly known as Sheni, at Kasaragod on July 18, an era has come to an end in Yakshagana and in Tala Maddale.
Born on April 7, 1918 to Lakshmi and Narayan Bhat at Ubbana in Kasaragod district in Kerala, he had his early education at Bela and Kumble. He later studied at the Mahajana Sanskrit School. He served as a teacher for some time, during which period he got an opportunity to act in plays. He tried to understand Kannada and Sanskrit literature from scholars. He also saw Yakshagana Bayalata and got attracted to it. He was deeply impressed by the Tala Maddale performances of Venkappa Shetty and Kirikkadu Vishnu Bhat. And he dreamt of becoming an "arthadhari" like them.
Sheni became a "haridasa" by chance when the noted haridasa Malpe Shankarnarayana Samaga who was supposed to deliver a Harikathe could not make it to the programme at a school at Ukkinadka. Sheni was goaded by the elders in the audience to pitch in with one. People were so impressed by his talent, that he became the most sought-after artiste on the Harikatha circuit.
The entry of Sheni into Yakshagana Bayalata too was by chance. He got into the field of Yakshagana Bayalata due to the persuasion of the manager of Kudlu Mela. He performed with Malpe Shankarnarayana Samaga in Yakshagana Bayalata for a long time. After some time at Kudlu Mela, he joined the Dharmasthala Mela, Era Mela and Surathkal Mela and performed a variety of roles.
Ravana, Vali, Maghada, Duryodhana, Bappa Beary, are among the many roles, which Sheni performed with ιlan and dexterity. He explored the ultimate in the roles that he performed. Words fail to describe the genius that was Sheni. You had to watch him to feel the experience of his superb portrayal of characters. A good Yakshagana artiste has to be a good poet and a better human being, that was the feeling one got when one saw Sheni perform. His command over the language was unmatched and he put this to good use in the performance of his roles.
He got under the skin of the negative roles and understood the psyche of the characters he portrayed. He would, in all his earnest, explain why characters such as Ravana, Duryodhana or others became negative. And so quite naturally, when he played Ravana, Rama simply got dwarfed before him. Just as Sheni's dialogues progressed, so too did the scope of his roles.
When he performed the role of Ravana or Duryodhana, it was Ravana or Duryodhana who dominated the stage or "rangasthala."
The audience would go home thinking that Ravana was not such a bad person after all and waking up to Duryodhana's humane qualities.
Former Chief Minister M. Veerappa Moily honouring Sheni at his residence in Kasargod.
Sheni showed that every role had its own personality. A person is never born as bad; it is circumstances that made him negative.
Just like Vali in Ramayana, in addition to his own strength, Sheni took away half the strength of his rivals on the stage. This was because Sheni studied the characters he played and intensely at that. The senior Yakshagana artiste Kolyur Ramachandra Rao, who performed with Sheni says: "Sheni gave a new dimension to the role of villains. He took the negative roles to new heights. There was no one who could beat Sheni in his dialogue delivery ("mathugarike"). He gave a new meaning to the role of Madhava Bhat in the episode "Tirupati Kshetra Mahatme."
At a time, when some Yakshagana melas reached their nadir in the portrayal of Yakshagana "prasangas" or episodes, Sheni's outstanding portrayal of the role of Bappa Beary, a Muslim, in "Bappanadu Kshetra Mahatme" remains etched on one's mind. While portraying the role of Bappa Beary, Sheni tried to understand Islam. He learnt how to offer "namaz." He learnt by rote some of the stanzas from the holy Quran too.
Awards came in search of Sheni. Important among them are: Rajyotsava Award by Karnataka Government (1990), Kerala Sangeet Nataka Academy Award (1993), and Karnataka Janapada and Yakshagana Award (1994). He was conferred the honorary doctorate by the Mangalore University in 2005. Says the senior Yakshagana artiste, Malpe Ramadasa Samaga who worked with Sheni: "Sheni had immense talent and fame followed him. Very few artistes have this combination of talent and fame."
The jury is out on whether Sheni's impressive dialogues ("mathugarike") pushed the other equally important element of dance to the background in Yakshagana.
But no one can deny the fact that Sheni was a legend in Yakshagana, especially in the Tenku Thittu school and Tala Maddale.
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