Like the father
SHYAMHARI CHAKRA
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The annual Deesha festival paid rich tributes to Guru Kelucharan.
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Tribute to father-guru Ratikant Mohapatra.
Three years ago, when legendary Odissi exponent Padma Vibhushan Kelucharan Mohapatra passed away, it was an uphill task for his son and disciple Ratikant Mohapatra to carry forward the legacy. The heritage of the fragile Odissi dance tradition that the global guru nurtured with utmost care needed due direction and young Ratikant was left to face the challenge.
Was the son and the disciple able to live up to the expectations of his father and the guru? The recently concluded second annual Deesha dance festival in Kolkata that Ratikant conducted in association with the Kolkata-based disciples of the late guru as a tribute to Guru Kelucharan had all the answers in affirmative.
Like the father who was fabulous dancer, choreographer and mardal player, the young son too excelled in all these aspects. And added to it, we witnessed Ratikant’s amazing ability as a disciplined organiser and promoter of the
distinct dance style. The event was aptly named Deesha (direction).
Eminent film personality Mrinal Sen, who inaugurated the two-day festival, was eloquent in his fond remembrance of the Odissi maestro. “I have never come across a better dancer than him. He belongs to India, to all of us and not to Orissa or Odissi alone,” Sen stated. The inaugural evening belonged to the Kolkata-based disciples of Kelucharan Mohapatra - Sharmila Biswas, Sutapa Talukdar, Dwipanita Roy, Dona Ganguly, Susmita Bhattacharya, Rajiv Bhattacharya and many more who either performed or presented their tribute to their guru. Peerless was an abhinaya number Brajaku chora asichhi by the veteran dancer-choreographer Sharmila Biswas that depicted how mother Yasoda pampers child Krishna to sleep wi
th the story of a thief who has peeped into the kingdom. If the inaugural evening was a tribute by the disciples, the concluding evening was the tribute to the father and the guru by Ratikant Mohapatra who presented a bouquet of his new choreographic compositions - Bhajagovindam, Jaya Mahesh , Barsha (performed by choreographer’s wife Sujata Mohapatra), Tarana Pallabi (solo by Rajashri Praharaj), Yugmadwanda pallabi (Rajn
ita Banarjee), Bakratunda (Subikash Mukherjee), Jhumi Jhumi (Kaustavi Sarkar), Summana (Rajib Bhattacharya) and Natangi by Aparupa Chaterjee - all trained by Ratikant Mohapatra w
ho also played the percussion instrument of mardal with perfection.
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