BHARAT KALACHAR
Neat portrayal
RUPA SRIKANTH
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Sonal Mansingh presented a gripping piece on Lord Krishna for nearly an hour and a half.
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Photo: R. Shivaji Rao.
SENSITIVE: Sonal Mansingh. Photo: R. Shivaji Rao.
From the moment Odissi dancer Sonal Mansingh appeared on stage, she became Krishna, the prankster, waiting for an opportunity to steal butter. As she layered the oft-repeated tale of the deceiving youngster and the disbelieving mother, she etched their portraits with simplicity in the Surdas bhajan, `Mayya Mori' in raga Kalavathi, Ektaal.
This was `Krishna Kreeda,' a glimpse of Krishna in his many facets. The evening swelled and ebbed with the flow of bhava, some more intense and a few more entertaining. There was nothing new until the finale, but what was said, was said with sensitivity.
The musicians led by Bankim Sethi, vocal, Abrar Hussain, sarod, Niranjan Bholo, mardala, and Gopinath Swain, violin, added a soulful touch to the landscape. And it really was a stark landscape without any notable rhythmic diversions, except in the opening Mangalacharan. It was up to the dancer and the musicians to make it come alive and this they did with the air of past masters. The programme was built-up slowly, brick by brick in a way that was representative of a journey from the mundane to the exalted. Krishna was depicted as a naughty child, then a teasing young man, a negligent lover and lastly on his deathbed as hunter Jaara laments over him and speaks of his divinity.
Looking trim in a chilli red costume, Sonal personalised the presentation with her introductions, sharing her thoughts in between each portrayal on the subject and on other issues such as the adaptability of the word `chaliya' and the historical relevance of mythological characters. The small numbers in the audience was unfortunate, but it brought the experience much closer.
Kavidas's bhajan, `Kamala Lochana' in Yamankalyan raag, Triputa taal and the Ashtapadi `Ramate' in Gujjari raag, Ekataal were delineated before the powerful, concluding moksha. This was not the traditional fast-tempo finale, but a full operatic work of Jaara's soliloquy after the hunter realises that the deer he shot at was actually Krishna's foot.
It is based on a contemporary poem by Seethakanth Mahapatra that was composed by Bankim in ragamalika, talamalika. Sonal overshot her one-and-a - half-hour time slot by a good twenty minutes, but no one thought to leave midway through this gripping piece.
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