How would it be to understand the Mahabharata from the point of view of Duryodhana, the villain? How would it feel to get under the skin of Gandhari, who feels she was the real heroine of the epic, and not Draupadi? Would an ordinary theatre goer accept the logic that Yudishtira, the eldest of the Pandavas, was full of vice and not virtue?
These questions were raised by a performance of the one-act play Yuganta by artists of the Udupi-based repertory Ranga Bhoomi in Bidar this week. It was the second performance in the three-day theatre festival organized by Samudaya Samanvaya Samiti in memory of Rangayana artist late Basavaraj Kodage in the Zilla Rang Mandir.
The play, written by Ma. Su. Krishnamurthy and directed by Mandya Ramesh, was a retelling of the epic from the viewpoint of characters who are considered antagonists in its popular versions. It also rejects popular notions of the battle of Kurukshetra as a fight between good and evil and interprets it as an ordinary fight between two expansionist royal families.
Sripad Hedge brought out the inner travails of Duryodhana. He left Yudishtira speechless and the audience stunned when he asked a series of questions about the right of his succession to the throne and the questionable tactics used by the Pandavas. “You are a drunkard and a compulsive gambler. Why should anyone call you Dharmaraya?” he asks. Then he turns towards the audience to ask, “It is said that the Pandavas are driven by values and Kouravas are motivated by the lust for power. But both of us ended up killing lakhs of soldiers. How can we be different then?” The play ends with Yudishtira expressing remorse over the war and deciding to give up the right to the throne. His brothers follow him and the ghosts hovering over the battle field are allowed to rule the kingdom.
Pradeep Chandra as Yudishtira, Raviraj S.P. as Bheeshma and Chanchalakshi Bhat as Gandhari gave exceptional performances. “It made us think,” said Bidar resident K. Gurumurthy. “I had never thought Mahabharata could be like this.”
Similarly entertaining was the play Sambashiva Prahasana. Written by Chandrashekar Kambar and directed by Malatesh Badiger, the absurd one-act play was a commentary on modern-day politics and governance.
The events take place in a fictional kingdom ruled by a lecherous, lazy Kalmadi Maharaj, who is indifferent to the problems of the people. Cunning bureaucrats keep misleading him and make him believe that the citizens are happy and prosperous. Meanwhile, a widowed father Samba and his son Shiva get a gift from Lord Ganesha. Samba gets a pearl that turns him into a woman and Shiva receives Ding Dong, a donkey that obeys all his commands. The king lusts after Samba, who has become a woman, but she gives him the slip and exposes his corrupt bureaucrats. The king swears in the donkey as the prime minister and appoints Shiva as its personal secretary. In the end, the king runs away from the kingdom, unable to face the wrath of his subjects. The father makes some money and the son gets the girl of his dreams. The play was a hit and every dialogue ended with a loud applause.
Jayakar Manipal played Ding Dong, and Vivekanad Kumar played the king’s advisor Karbari. Pandit Ravi Kiran Manipadi was the music director for both plays. His use of Yakshagana beats and light music for background score and classical and modern songs to convey different moods seemed apt.
Kodage’s widow and Rangayana artist B.N. Shashikala inaugurated the festival. Samudaya artists of Bidar presented Pugasette Prasanga, a play about corruption in the gram panchayats. Shivaji Mankari essayed the role of the corrupt husband of a woman who is elected the president of the gram panchayat. S. Dailemma played his wife, who is first hesitant to take decisions and seeks her husband’s advice.
However, she learns her lesson and takes control after her husband goes around collecting money for what should have been routine work in the village. The play, by H.L. Keshav Murthy, was directed by Sunil Kadde. Samudaya district president Vijay Kumar Sonare played the role of an MLA who interferes in the gram panchayat’s affairs. Folk singer Shambhuling Waldoddi was the music director.
