Kathakali plays Santhanagopalam and Rugmamgadacharitham earned their author Mandavappalli Ittirarissa Menon (1745–1805) ever-lasting fame as a top-ranking playwright and a golden bracelet (‘veerasrimkhala’) from Karthika Thirunal Maharaja of erstwhile Travancore. Both the compositions present an array of emotional conflicts and are considered as ‘pious’ plays without negative characters categorised as ‘kathi’, ‘kari’ and ‘thadi’ and continue to top the list of connoisseurs’ favourites.
The performance under review lasted three hours and presented all the usually staged scenes of Santhanagopalam , featuring the three major characters therein, namely the Brahmin, Arjuna and Krishna, donned by Kalamandalam Sreekumar, Kottakkal C.M. Unnikrishnan and Kalamandalam Athul respectively.
Opening scene
The opening scene depicting Krishna’s affection for Arjuna and the latter’s self-effacing devotion to the Lord turned out to be an appropriate backdrop for successive events. Krishna, seated on the right, and Arjuna, standing to the former’s left after entering with a dance to the syllable-string ( vaythari ) ‘kitatakadhimtam’, presented pleasing picture.
Margi Sukumaran, Kalamandalam Sreekumar, Kottakkal C.M. Unnikrishnan and Kalamandalam Athul in a scene from Santhanagopalam
Krishna and Arjuna exchange pleasantries that depict their close ties with each other. Although Arjuna pays lip service to his devotion to Krishna, his vanity motivates him to promise to protect the Brahmin’s unborn child from the clutches of death.
The entire play is about Krishna destroying Arjuna’s pride and showing him that without the blessings of the Almighty, even valiant heroes are helpless. In the last scene, the Brahmin went out of the way, unlike even some senior actors, and respectfully provided a seat to Krishna, and finally paid homage to him, thereby duly acknowledging his supremacy.
Sparks of humour
The context-sensitive innovations revealed multiple layers of inter-textual relations, providing insights into the intrinsic nature of the characters in question. Sreekumar’s presentation was interspersed with sparks of humour.
The roles of the Brahmin’s wife and the mid-wife were donned by Margi Sukumaran and Kalamandalam Sudeep A. Mohan respectively.
During the second half of the performance, Kalanilayam Krishnakumar played the chenda and Sreekanteswaram Mohanachandran Potti was on the maddalam.
The ritualistic dance of concluding benediction (‘dhanasi’) was performed by Kalamandalam Athul. It was a treat in itself and reminded the discerning that not only the performance but anything happening anywhere in the whole universe is also part of the grand play of the Almighty.
Sadanam Vasudevan provided great enjoyment with his playing of the chenda. The drumming was complemented by Margi Rathnakaran’s maddalam. The percussion meticulously followed Kottakkal Narayanan’s emotionally surcharged music, which was supported by Vengeri Narayanan.
The performance was held under the aegis of Drisyavedi.
