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Where the North and South fused
THE DHARANI Kalotsav brought together a wide variety of Indian dance and music. It did not remain confined to the arts of the South. If it had bharatanatyam and Carnatic music, there were also the contemporary dance items from famed Uday Shankar India Culture Centre, Kolkata and a Hindustani jugalbandi by Dr. Kamala Shankar and Pandit Rajeev Janardhan.
This guitar-sitar jugalbandi was held on the penultimate day of the festival. Having staged many concerts in the State during the past couple of months, the duo was quite familiar to the crowd. Their concert took off with Hamsadhwani with the very popular bandish `Aaye sajan more mandirwa... ' in madhya teen taal. The artistes did not stick to the format of typical sawal-jawab kind of jugalbandi and played their own parts separately.
The taans on the sitar by Rajeev Janardhan took to vakra patterns in rapid sequence. Pundalik Krishna Bhagawat, who played the tabla, often took to intricate rhythmic variations, which sometimes took a bit too resonant and piercing tone.
In vilambit gat, madhya and drut teental came `More meet piyarwa ghar aaye... ' in Shyam Kalyan. While the gayaki ang stood apart in Kamala's playing, the tantrakari ang was predominant in Rajeev's use of the ovation sitar. This piece was backed up by a dhun in Misra Pilu, `Barsan laage sawan... '
Even though the concert was kept short, the choice of the ragas, not too heavy, went well with the audience.
The festival concluded with a crowd puller of a programme. The Maha Pattabhishekam dance-drama by Kalakshetra, Chennai, stood out in its sober stage décor and good music accompaniment. Excellent care was given to the costume designs, right from the regal attire of Ravana and Vibheeshana to that of the demons and dancing girls. Vibheeshana's entry, his meeting with Ravana, his attempts for peace, his meeting with the vanaras and so on were depicted in the first two scenes. Vibheeshana's flight, the amazement of the vanaras, the `sethubandhanam' with a breathtaking score set in Kathanakuthoohalam, was performed dramatically. Effective lighting heightened the effect of the `sethubandhanam' and Sita's trial by fire sequences.
The other highpoints of this performance included the fight between Ravana and Lakshmana, Hanuman's rescue of Lakshmana, Sita's entry at the head of a procession. The sloka rendition, the eye makeup of Hanuman, the fights, the comic behaviour of the vanaras etc. were inspired from the practices and movements in Kathakali.
The group dance and the narration, set in the mode of a chorus, with which the second half begins, appeared to be a bit over stretched.
The Pattabhishekam ceremony performed with fan fare; with the royal mothers looking on, was portrayed effectively.
On the whole, the Dharani Kalotsav, a five-day fiesta of dance and music, proved to be a real celebration for the city folks.
HAREESH BAL
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