Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
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Colour and creativity
RUPA SRIKANTH
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There was richness all around — in the music, in the orchestration and in the abhinaya, besides the richness in Shobana’s costumes.
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Photo: R. Shivaji Rao.
GLAMOUR: Shobana.
Shobana ought to get full marks for visualisation. She had worked out a breathtaking opening at Bharat Kalachar; the curtains went up on her recital to a brilliant frieze with six dancers, all bathed in a pool of yellow light from the wings. Dressed
in pleasing yellows and oranges, they sprang to life with the Mallari (Gambhira Nattai, Adi) with vibrant adavus set in khanda nadai.
Shobana is this year’s Nritya Choodamani awardee, and her recital was an unapologetic display of glamour, colour and creativity. She is an artist of high calibre and creativity is her strength. However, there is a tendency to get carried away with it. The routine aspects too need attention and one felt the lack of application in the nritta segments. One missed her play with laya as well. Despite this shortcoming, there was richness all around that evening — in the music, in the elaborate orchestration and in the abhinaya, besides of course the obvious richness in Shobana’s costumes. Her frequent costume changes triggered Mrs.Y.G.Parthasarathy’s comment, “Shobana is a quick-change artist!”
The veteran art-promoter was right; Shobana is a quick-change artist in more than one sense. Her expressions are so quick and sharp, she can capture nuances in expressions so easily. In the Dikshitar kriti, (Mamava Pattabhirama, Manirangu, misra chapu) she did this in the Pattabhishekam scene and gave each character a distinct gait and expression
The Dasavathara depicted in the Swati Tirunal composition (Kamalajasya,
ragamalika, Adi) was perhaps the best one has seen in that genre. Each avatar had a storyline behind it and again it was her treatment that made the difference. Her portrayals are original and instinctive. The Vishwaroopa seen through the eyes of King Mahabali was one such instance. The king is not only shocked at the Brahmin-dwarf’s growing form, but one could see the changing expressions on the king’s face as the form grew bigger and truth dawned on the proud king.
As elevating as the sancharis were, as disappointing was the nritta. The Dasavathara kirtanam was then the best and the worst in the evening’s offerings. Nattuvangam (Revathi Kumar) was hardly heard; nor were the bells on the dancer’s feet. Only the mridangam (Ramakrishnan) served as the torchbearer for nritta. Shobana’s students who joined her occasionally were more enthusiastic about nritta. They were: Suma, Seetha, Archana, Bhavani, Ashwini, Chitra, Aparajita, Anoorupitha, Shivani and Gayathri.
It goes without saying that melody ruled. Radha Badri (vocal) excelled in her rendering. Artists of a high calibre — Seetharama Sharma (violin), Rajhesh Vaidya (veena) and the occasional eddakya (Krishna Kumar), supported her excellently.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
