Ever since it was founded in 1930, Kerala Kalamandalam has been a pioneering institution in propagating performing arts, primarily those that originated in Kerala. Apart from training and academics, from time to time, the institution also comes up with ventures to take these art forms to a wider audience.
‘Sathamohanam’ is one such step aimed at making Mohiniyattam accessible to more viewers by staging it at a hundred venues over a period of one year.
The programme was officially launched in Thiruvananthapuram and a 12-member faculty-student team along with musicians and percussionists from Kerala Kalamandalam presented ‘Shivashakti’, an in-house Mohiniyattam dance production based on the first three sargas of Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhavam , narrating the events leading to the marriage of Shiva and Parvati, also identified as Shakti.
‘Shivashakti’, a Mohiniyattam dance production presented by Kerala Kalamandalam as the inaugural programme of ‘Sathamohanam’, an initiative aimed at making the dance form reach out to a wider audience.
The production did not attempt to showcase the nuances of the repertoire in the best possible way. Instead, the idea seemed to be to present the dance form in a format that appeals even to an audience that may be not familiar with the finer aspects of Mohiniyattam.
The play opened with Parvati, with the blessings of her parents, taking a decision to present herself to Shiva.
Keeping it minimal
Coming to the dance part, there were a few interesting segments in the choreography by Kalamandalam Rajalakshmi and Kalamandalam Sujatha. They took the right direction by elaborating instances in the story-line rather than focussing too much on the story itself. The music with minimal lyrics also worked well in this aspect.
The initial scenes of Parvati along with her friends seemed to be inspired from episodes of Damayanthi and her sakhis in Nalacharitham Onnam Divasam , the Kathakali play by Unnayi Warrier. Kalamandalam Sangeetha, as Parvati, along with Kalamandalam Chithra and Kalamandalam Aswathy playing her maids did a good job in those scenes.
Season of flowers
Another interesting scene was when Vasanthan, on Kama’s request, brings about an untimely spring in the place were Shiva meditates. Kalamandalam Vidyarani in the role of Vasanthan, along with Anju Rajeev, Lakshmi, Harsha, Akhila, Anamika and Anakha – all students of Kalamandalam – did well in depicting spring. Parvati, who couldn’t succeed in wooing Siva in her first attempt, along with her maids, make their return at this point and their excitement on seeing spring in all its glory was also well presented.
The rest of the presentation, where the actual events happen, couldn’t live up to expectations. The portions of Kama, with Kalamandalam Arya Sangeeth appearing in the role, lacked the prominence that the character deserved. Other than maintaining a meditative posture and some dance towards the end, the role of Shiva, presented by Kalamandalam Preetha, also had minimal chances to elaborate.
While the title suggests the union of Shiva and Shakti, why it ended with Shiva standing alone, without Parvati by his side, remained a mystery. The final portions could have been better imagined.
While it is a laudable effort of Kerala Kalamandalam to present Mohiniyattam on more stages while also giving necessary exposure to those who pass out of the institution, it would have been much more meaningful if the organisers could take proper care of the stage setting and lights as well.
One interesting aspect of the production was the minimal usage of lyrics. While vocalist Pramod Cheruvath had little to contribute, the mood was mostly supplemented by Thrissur Muralee Krishna’s veena and Vinod Kumar Pulaseri’s flute in tune with the music set by Rajendran Vayala.
The percussion had Kalamandalam Krishnakumar and Kalamandalam Rajeesh on the mridangam and Kalamandalam Sreekumar on the edakka.
