The second day of the dance festival of South Indian Cultural Association (SICA) featured a group choreography Remembering Meera . Coming from Guru Hemamalini Arni's school, one would naturally go with high expectations. The ‘musical' ballet as it was termed, had many plus points as far as technique, orchestra, stage management and costumes went. Despite these embellishments, the actual fare was slightly disappointing.
Aesthetically appealing
Stringing together a series of Meera bhajans , the dance ballet presented her life and tribulations that sprang from her extreme devotion to Lord Krishna. The use of mendicants on stage buttressed the narrative and lent an air of authenticity to the bhakti movement that was prevalent in those times. Thoughtful use of ‘silhouettes' technique served to enhance the production and was aesthetically appealing. The choice of ragas was good too in keeping with the mood of the scene.
The story of a little girl whose besotted by Lord Krishna right from a tender age was narrated with the help of her maiden friends making fun of her love; her marriage to the royal family scion who promises to build a temple for Krishna where Meera (Sharmila Taneja) can worship to her heart's content, the impatient sister-in-law convincingly played by Satvika Ranganathan, Meera's mounting ethereal passion for Krishna that jeopardises her family and throws her to the mercy of the streets, her plight as a love-smitten devotee who roams around totally lost as if in a reverie, etc. was detailed like a trellis work in the narrative.
Principal character
The Rana or his sister as also the maidens, had little to do, coming in and out as and when required on stage.
The principal character was Meera whose plight from the cherishing love-lorn maiden to a near-deranged passionate devotee of Lord Krishna forms the crux of the story. It required dancing abilities, a switch-over from the childish passion to a God-intoxicated state – all in a matter of two hours! Sharmila, though a proven dancer in other ballets of Hemamalini Arni, was not convincing enough as Meera.
The ballet was not able to conjure up the aura of spirituality and tranquility that is usually associated with the character. Sharmila's histrionics only served to depict an insane Meera at best. Deepika Jaiswal as Krishna looked out of place. Poorvi Prasad as Rana and Satvika Ranganathan as the Rana's sister were convincing. The melodic clear tones of the sitar by Nanda Kumar stood out. Vinay Patankar's chants were charged with emotion. The personification of a banyan tree was unwarranted when the rest of the symbolic structures went with shadow play and make-do techniques. Lack of synch was too evident in the mendicants' dance and hasta abhinaya.
