When eyes tell the story
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A Nangiarkoothu performance by Kapila saw her histrionic ability take wings. G.S. Paul
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‘Narasimhavataram,’ directed by G. Venu and produced by Natanakairali, was staged by Kapila at Kerala Sahithya Akademi Hall, Thrissur.
The mainstay of the one-hour Nangiarkoothu recital was the fifth sloka of Jayadeva’s Gitagovindam, ‘Vedaanuddharathe jagathy vahathe.’ The last sloka of this first Ashtapadi is the poet’s tribute to the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu including Narasimha.
The actor assumes the role of Padmavathy, Jayadeva’s wife, who narrates the story of incarnation.
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Kapila’s histrionics soared right from the beginning as she narrated the popular story of the arrogant Asura king Hiranyakasipu and his devout son, Prahalada. The recital portrayed how the king pleased Lord Brahma and won several boons that made Hiranyakasipu very powerful. It also depicted Hiranyakasipu’s vain attempts to kill his son and the final denouement when the conceited king is killed by Lord Vinshu in the avatar of Narasimha.
Kapila’s eyes depicted the contrast between the father and the meek and docile son. She used her eyes to even describe the spatial placement of the characters on stage.
By entrusting the vaachika abhinaya to the actor, Venu has made an interesting departure from conventional practice in Nangiarkoothu. It also adds to the efficacy of abhinaya. As for the recitation of the sloka, Kapila has made tremendous progress.
A laudable aspect of the performance was the exquisite melam provided by Kalamandalam Rajiv and Kalamandalam Hariharan on the mizhavu and Kalanilayam Unnikrishnan on the edakka. The drumming was quintessential of the role of percussion in the right evocation of the varied moods of the play.
The recital was organised by Bharatham.
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