The epic Mahabharatha has always been an inspiration for writers to create new Kathakali plays. Kottayathu Thampuran wrote four of his attakkathas based on the ‘vanaparvam’ of the Mahabharatha. Later, Irayimman Thampi penned two Kathakali plays (‘Utharaswayamvaram’, ‘Keechakavadham’) on the Pandavas’ life in exile. In the modern era, V. Madhavan Nair, popularly known as Mali, wrote ‘Karnashapatham,’ which tells the tale of Karna, eldest son of Kunti, mother of the Pandavas. ‘Suyodhana Vishadam’, written by E. G. Janardhanan Potty, is the latest addition to Kathakali’s Mahabharata repertoire. The play was staged for the first time at Kallekulangara, near Palakkad, recently.
‘Suyodhana Vishadam’ tells the story of Duryodhana’s attempt to visit to the Pandavas, who are living in exile in the forest, with the intention to humiliate them.
A Brahmin, who had come to the the court of Hastinapura, describes the life of the Pandavas in the forest. Egged on by Karna, Duryodhana decides to visit his cousins so that he can witness their suffering with his own eyes. After taking permission from his father, he sets off for the forest accompanied by his wife, Bhanumathi, brother Dussasana and Karna.
On the way they encounter Chitrasenan, a Gandharva, and pick up a fight with him. Chitrasenan defeats the Kauravas and ties them to a tree. On hearing this Arjuna comes to their rescue. Embarrassed and disgraced, Duryodhana decides to renounce the throne in favour of Dussasana. When he decides to go on an indefinite fast, an Asura intervenes and makes him withdraw his decision.
Although it had much potential, the play failed to impress viewers. One felt there was nothing new about the literature. While the lyrics lacked depth, the choreography too failed to create an impact.
The play is around four-and-half hours long, but here certain scenes were edited and condensed to three hours.
Senior artistes such as Kalamandalam K. G. Vasudevan (Arjuna), Vazhenkada Vijayan (Duryodhana) and Kalamandalam Kalluvazhi Vasu (Bhanumathi) were the main artistes and it is their performances that saved the play in the end. Vijayan was perfect in the technical aspects but never made any attempt to improvise. The Pathinja padam, ‘Rajeeva dalopama lochane...’ in ragam Padi looked similar to that of ‘Kalyani Kanka..’ in ‘Utharaswayamvaram’. But the experience and mastery of the artiste stood out in the forthcoming scenes.
Vasudevan, who is in his late 70s, gave a short but sharp performance as Arjuna. His initial solo narration (‘attam’) about the Pandavas’ life before they were exiled was interesting to watch. The clarity and perfection of mudras were the highlights of his acting. Vasudevan, who usually dons ‘minukku’ roles , essayed a ‘pacha’ role with grace and élan.
Kalluvazhi Vasu performed the small role of Bhanumathi in textbook style. Youngsters such as Kalamandalam Kuttikrishnan (Karna), Kalamandalam Venkitaraman (Chithrasenan), Kalamandalam Neeraj (Dussasana) and Arya Parapore (Asura) too put up impressive performances.
Nedumpalli Rammohan, who composed the lyrics, rendered them with depth. Instead of experimenting with rare ragas, he used familiar ragas such as Sankarabharanam, Padi, Poraneeru and Mohanam. Rammohan was supported by his disciple Sreerag Varma.
Kalamandalam Balasundar, Sadanam Jithin (chenda), and Sadanam Ratheesh (maddalam) were the percussionists.
