Mohiniyattam dancer and choreographer Pallavi Krishnan’s latest creation is ‘Kunthi’, a dance-drama that encapsulates, in less than an hour and a half, the story of Karna, particularly the heart-rending encounter between Kunthi and her son. Since the story is immensely popular even as stage shows, Pallavi, who conceptualised the production and starred in the lead role, had a tough task saving it from the mundane. A deft treatment of the theme made the dance drama emotionally vibrant and technically remarkable. The choreographer successfully allotted more or less the same amount of time and space for dance and theatre during a performance at Model Regional Theatre, Thrissur.
The dance-drama’s opening scene carried enormous visual splendour with Pallavi making use of hand-gestures and body language of Mohiniyattam while her co-dancers revelled in the movement-vocabulary of Bharatanatyam. In the scene next, sage Durvasa with Kunthi at his service, was strikingly portrayed. As the story progressed, the irresistible desire of Kunthi to try out her boon with the Sun God, as she was embraced by the awakening rays, found eloquent expression.
The blossoming of the lotus flower with the sunrise was a familiar yet refreshing metaphor that Pallavi brought in. The birth of Karna with kavacha-kundala and Kunthi’s affection giving way to her fear of ignominy glowed in Pallavi’s satwikabhinaya. The scene depicting the parting of Kunthi with the infant Karna was poignant.
From pathos, the mood shifted to ebullience with a group-dance effectively employing the angikabhinaya of Bharatanatyam. The dancers as Sakhis then announced the wedding of Kunthi to Paandu. The next scene portrayed charioteer Adhiradha and his wife, Radha, overcome with joy as they chanced upon the infant Karna in the river. The spectators were then treated to an enticing lullaby in raga Kurinji.
Preliminary preparations for the Kurukshetra battle and Karna equipping himself with weapons had the desired effect thanks to several sets of techniques adopted from Bharatanatyam. Karna’s worship of the Sun and Kunthi’s arrival were dramatic. While disclosing the secret of Karna’s parenthood, Pallavi exercised admirable restraint in the expressions of sorrow and remorse. Kunthi’s plea to Karna to stand for the Pandavas and Karna’s moral indignation appealed to the audience. The depiction of Karna confronting Arjuna and his imminent death were visually persuasive. The dance-drama concluded with Kunthi lamenting the demise of her heroic son.
Haripadman Kalakshetra, as the Sun God, appeared to be a little too gentle and subdued. P.T. Narendran as the luminous Karna retained the stature of the character throughout. With his proven skills as a Kathakali playwright, Kalamandalam Ganeshan could have improved the lyrical quality of the lines of ‘Kunthi’.
Palakkad Sooryanarayanan did a commendable job as the music-composer of the dance-drama. He applied the most appropriate ragas for each sequence accentuating the emotional contours of every situation. Even in the absence of live music, Kalamandalam Suprabha’s and Bhagyalakshmi’s fluent rendering of the padams in an emotion-soaked voice contributed considerably to characterisation. A bit too prolonged interludes between the scenes were the sole distraction in the entire presentation.
The production was supported by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.