Comedy of errors
K.K. GOPALAKRISHNAN
|
Edanad Rajan Nambiar performed `Bhagavatjjukam' in the Chakyarkoothu format.
|
LAUDABLE EFFORT: A scene from Bodhayana's Sanskrit play `Bhagavatjjukam.'
Edanad Rajan Nambiar performed Sanskrit playwright Bodhayana's prahasanam (farce) `Bhagavatjjukam' in the Chakyarkoothu format. The story of how the souls of a saint and a courtesan were interchanged and the ensuing confusion had the audience in splits.
In 1965, Kavalam Narayana Panikkar directed the Malayalam version of Bhagavatjjukam. The late maestro Paimkulam Rama Chakyar, in 1976, presented this farce in the Koodiyattam style under the aegis of the Kalamandalam.
The story begins with a disciple called Shandilyan who is on the lookout for a guru who would feed him well. While travelling with his present guru, Shandilyan meets Vasanthasena, a courtesan. While plucking flowers she is stung to death by a serpent.
Unaware that it was Yamadoothan, the messenger of death who had claimed her life in the form of a serpent, Shandilyan persuades his guru to restore the courtesan's life.
Aware of Shandilyan's scepticism, his guru, in an attempt to teach Shandilyan a lesson, brings back the courtesan to life. But Vasanthasena has the mannerisms of Shandilyan's guru while the guru lies dead. The confusion is compounded by the Yamadoothan who realises that he had made a mistake. He bestows Vasanthasena's soul to the Guru's body and leaves. Soon the guru starts behaving like the courtesan!
Putting matters right
However, the Yamadoothan soon arrives to clear the confusion and an end to the comedy of errors.
Nambiar as Shandilyan captivated the audience during the 90-minute programme. Presented under the aegis of Malayala Padana Gaveshana Kendram, a Thrissur-based centre for academic research in Malayalam, the event was held to mark the formation of Kerala on November 1.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
