Spotlight on friendship
RUPA SRIKANTH
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The concept Srekala Bharath had chosen was good but the choice of songs could have been better.
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Photo: K. N. Muralidharan
Srekala Bharath.
Srekala Bharath's thematic presentation `Sakhi' for Brahma Gana Sabha at the Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium was an attempt to give centre stage to the `friend' who plays an important role in romantic literature. It was a good concept all right, but it got grounded by the mundane choice of items. Only the opening Anjali followed by a verse, `En Uyir Thozhi' and the concluding Ragam, Tanam, Pallavi were specially tailored to suit the theme, besides the padam, `Unnai Thoodhu Anuppinen' in Saveri ragam, Adi talam, a composition of Madura Kavi Bharathi. The main part of the programme however was a varnam, `Sakhiye Inda Velaiyil' (Sankarabharnam, Adi), a composition of K.N.Dhandayuthapani Pillai, in which the references to the sakhi were only in passing, the heroine's love and viraha necessarily taking the attention.
Effort stood out
But if one ignored the tag and considered the offerings as stand alone pieces, Srekala's conscientious effort stood out. One could see it particularly in the nritta segments where one felt she was doing the best she could. Every adavu was taken to its logical finish and every stamp of the foot resounded with clarity. She was certainly setting a good example for all her students in the audience. The vibrancy in pure dance was set off against expressive delineations, making the varnam an enjoyable blend of the abstract and the figurative. Chitrambari's melodious singing and Muthukumar's mellifluous bowing contributed to the rasanubhava, while the supportive team of Devakottai Shivakumar (nattuvangam) and Dhananjayan (mridangam) guided the dancer with accurate rhythm.
`Unnai Thoodhu' about a deceiving friend was given its due, but the biggest disappointment of the evening was the Vachaspati RTP, composed in Adi talam with lyrics from Pappu Venugopala Rao. The visualisation suffered with stereotyped interpretations of friendship between two mugdha nayikas playing in the water and in the pandattam sequence during the tanam. This was again a good concept that did not come through.
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