Bonds of friendship
GOWRI RAMNARAYAN
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Kuchelavrittam was a delightful blend of tender feelings and humour.
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PHOTO: Shaju John.
POWERFUL MUDRAS: Heart-warming tale through Kathakali.
``Look! Krishna is asking Rukmini, `What were you doing all this while? Did you eat well and go to sleep?' laughs Balagopal, veteran dance artiste of Kalakshetra, as Kuchelavrittam unfolds on the stage in unhurried Kathakali pace. It was a privilege to see this performance directed by guru Sadanam Balakrishnan, with Kalakshetra's own senior artistes Kunhiraman, P. Dhananjayan and Balagopal in the front row. They had performed Kathakali atakathas on the same stage in the past. Kuchelavrittam featured artistes from Kalamandalam and students of Kalakshetra trained by Sadanam Balakrishnan in workshops through the year.
The result was a delightful blend of tender feelings and humour.
It is not often that bonds of friendship are highlighted through an entire performance. Kuchela's simple bhakti and self-surrender were the moral threads woven into the heartwarming tale of childhood friends.
Wife Kshushama (Shaly Vijayan) begs impoverished husband Kuchela (Sadanam Balakrishnan) to seek help from Krishna, his friend of gurukula days, preparing a packet of beaten rice to take as a gift. Though long and less dramatic than the later `action' sequences, this domestic exchange evoked their patient goodness in the midst of deprivation. Kuchela sets off with trepidation, his simple props — a staff and umbrella — as also his hesitant walk, to make his journey convincing.
A single flower-hung seat established Dwaraka's splendour, and Krishna's (Kalamandalam Balasubramaniam) character as the eternal lover. Swinging in joy with wife Rukmini (Vineetha), Krishna crinkles his eyes to see Kuchela in the distance. A joyful leap and he is among the audience, welcoming Kuchela in the middle of the hall, embracing him with love, taking his staff and umbrella, guiding him into his `palace.'
Kathakali's treasury of angika abhinaya was fully utilised in this encounter. Krishna's entire body thrills to the touch of his classmate, his heart overflows with schoolday memories. Reminiscences tumble out from the exulting Krishna, while the overwhelmed Kuchela can do little more than nod, before going off into deep meditation at his good fortune.
Effortlessly, Sadanam Balakrishnan showed his response to the two Krishnas — to the excited Krishna before him, and the eternal Krishna deep within his heart.
The power of the Kathakali mudras was seen when the devotee showed the Lord how his soul rested at the lotus feet of his Lord. The two pujas were moving — Krishna offering flowers at the brahmin's feet, and later, Kuchela putting flowers into Krishna's outstretched hands, and the Lord scattering those flowers over his own head. Saakhya bhava instantly turned into bhakti rasa.
The atakatha was enriched by contrasts — Rukmini's sprightliness with Kshukshama's diffident pace, Krishna's mischievous recollections and dalliance with Kuchela's naiveté.
The purappadu made a bright start to the drama. There was some unevenness in the levels of stylisation among the younger artistes. But though they could not match the technique-skills of the veterans, especially in specialised facial expression, they did play their roles well and with total involvement.
Heightened emotions were sourced from the powerful music of two voices (Madambi Subramaniom Namboodiri/ Sadanam Sivadasan), chenda (Kalamandalam Unnikrishnan) and maddalam (Kalamandalam Gopikuttan).
Namboodiri's Sankarabharanam became more and more evocative in unflagging, high-pitched recurrence. He touched the required rasa in every raga.
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