There are certain characters in our mythology that are evergreen in the sense of evoking interest to explore and bring out new facets with each creative effort. Draupadi is one such persona, the chief catalyst of Mahabharat. Kathak exponent Surabhi Singh’s “Aaj ki Draupadi” dwelt on the story of this epic character as in the original.
The ballet depicted Draupadi as born of fire (but there is a bit of ambiguity here when she refers to fire as her mother while the general concept is Agni dev is a male!). Surabhi essayed the lead role with her pupils supplementing the run of events as also some serious Kathak footwork which was quite impressive.
The digital backdrop took the very lengthy story forward so that the dance delineation on stage was able to move ahead quickly in sequence. As Draupadi, the artiste was her best in terms of abhinaya, mime and movement. The physical description of the heroine in the song as “Drupad Suta Komal Shyamal...” gave us a picture of the heroine and her royal life as a princess prior to her marriage. Her swayamvar (marriage), and then – the most shocking to today’s sensibilities – she being shared as a wife among the five Pandava brothers in obedience to their mother Kunti’s direction, were brought out with a lot of feeling.
Introducing Pandavas
The Pandavas were introduced through voice-overs and symbols on the digital screen — a commendable piece of creativity. Draupadi’s ruminating “Tan sabka, par mann mera hai Arjun...” is a pointer to her spirit that refused to be subdued despite external circumstances. Here comes Surabhi’s ethical questioning of how anyone could share a wife as if she was not of flesh and blood, which went well with the audience.
Prior to the game of dice – the point of collision – the group’s dance to plain mnemonics gave the impetus to the impending calamity that eventually brought about the great war. While the dice game was shown on the screen, the front stage showed the finale – of Draupadi being dragged – the dancer running agitatedly from this end of the stage to that end trying to dodge Dushasana and plead for intervention by elders. This looked a little too dramatic. It could have been worked out more subtly and with dignity since it was in solo. In trying to interpret the disrobing scene and Draupadi’s predicament and resolve from the present day perspective, the artiste seemed to have gone overboard.
Making a choice
A victim of circumstances, Draupadi is faced with two clear choices here – to implore and wait for Lord Krishna for her deliverance from ignominy or to take things into her hand like mother goddess Durga and combat the evil forces! This gave ample scope for the artiste to get into the female power (Shakti) mode and depict it artistically which looked good on stage but really had no relevance to the story-line.
Finally, we see an empowered Draupadi single-handedly tackling her issue and saving herself from disgrace. The backdrop flashes series of women who turned leaders like Indira Gandhi, etc. In trying to prove a point, artistes should ensure that they do not undermine certain innate values.
Here, for instance, Lord Krishna was reduced to just a ‘male’ and not what He was intended to be. The depth of Krishna’s character suffered inadvertently in the process of women empowerment issue!
When a character is isolated from the story and magnified, as in the case of Draupadi, it is also necessary to carry the authenticity of the original if we are not to falter. The pre-recorded ballet was hosted at India Habitat Centre.
