Yet, the effort did not add up. This was because of the visualisation that split the story into a series of short clips and so fragmented the presentation.
The music too suffered a similar fate. Though the singer rated very high on the melody meter, the music composition itself was too heavy with the numerous verses. In short, there was no time to savour the moods or nuances.
The seasoned Bharatanatyam dancers from Bangalore are known for their high standards, especially in abhinaya.
Every scene, every gesture, look and sigh was in character and performed with attention to detail, but they remained just that — good scenes.
The ‘lights on, lights off’ approach managed to kill the artistry within.
Moving moments
Nevertheless, there were many moving moments in the tapestry — Karna’s gratitude to Duryadhana who stands up for him in front of Kripacharya, his hurt in Draupadi’s swayamvara, reaction to Krishna revealing the truth about his birth and his embittered reaction to Kunti’s declaration.
Through Sridhar’s brilliant portrayal one could see Karna’s transition from a strong, confident youth to an embittered man who has been tossed around by selfish people. One wishes more time had been spent exploring such emotional moments because not many are gifted enough to do that.
