Playwright and poet Irayimman Thampi’s earlier plays (‘Keechakavadham’ and ‘Utharaswayamvaram’) abound in erotic and heroic sentiments whereas ‘Dakshayagam’, the last Kathakali play he wrote, is popularly perceived to be a piece promoting devotion to Lord Siva and is the favourite choice for performances on temple premises, especially where the presiding deity is either Siva or the Mother Goddess. Being assigned the role of Daksha is considered a mark of recognition of an actor’s stamina and maturity.
‘Dakshayagam’ narrates the story of King Daksha. His adopted daughter Sathi was married to Lord Siva. However, Daksha underestimates Lord Siva and during a sacrificial ceremony organised with the sly intention of insulting Siva, the Lord unleashes his power and humbles Daksha.
In a recent recital of ‘Dakshayagam’ in the capital city, Kalamandalam Balasubramanian’s portrayal of Daksha was a brilliant display of histrionic talents. His interpretation of the play text, avowedly an exquisite literary piece, was in tune with the basic tenets of aesthetics. The Kalamandalam style striving for excellence in all the three aspects of acting stipulated for a pacha (green) character, namely gestural and emotional elements (aamgika and saatvika) as well as make-up and costume (aahaarya), made the thespian’s performance superb.
As usual, on several occasions Balasubramanian embellished his presentation with creative improvisations. Thus, for instance, while presenting Daksha’s handing over the baby to Vedavalli, he acted as though the child would have slipped off her hand and affectionately chided her. His indicating with a smile that there was pleasant resemblance between the child’s and Vedavalli’s faces, implied that, by all means, the baby was worthy of being considered their legitimately begotten offspring.
While presenting Daksha's enthusiastic entry into the sacrificial hall, the actor came to the front of the stage with a welcoming countenance, and exchanging pleasant words with the audience, making them feel that they were all with him, as active participants in the ritual. As an insulted Sathi in tears is finally expelled from the sacrificial venue, he too loses self control, and bursts into tears, recollecting her childhood days and the affection he had showered on her as the youngest among his daughters. Sadanam Vijayan essayed the roles of Vedavalli, Daksha’s wife, and daughter Sathi with commendable dexterity. His postures and movements along with continuously changing expressions in perfect harmony with the context made his performance enjoyable throughout.
Participation of the veteran actor Nelliyodu Vasudevan Namboothiri as Virabhadra enhanced the quality of the performance substantially. The octogenarian artiste’s glowing eyes, fierce roars and lightning-like movements and kalasams brimming with seemingly divine energy built up around him a hallow of formidability, amply befitting Virabhadra. While asking Siva why he was summoned, Nelliyodu exuded unassailability and pointed out that with his two thousand arms holding a multitude of weapons he was completely confident about achieving anything, as directed by the master. That was, indeed, an insightful exposition of the playwright’s qualifying of Virabhadra in the introductory quatrain as ‘sahasramuurdhaa-dvisahasrabaahu’.
The seasoned artiste demonstrated beyond any doubt that the Kathakali actor’s primary commitment is to the play-text, which, of course, he can use as the launching pad during imaginative acting in accordance with Kerala’s acting tradition attested in treatises like Vamgyavyaakhyaa . Timely and subtle directions Nelliyodu gave to junior actors on the stage benefitted them significantly.
Kalamandalam Parthasarathy excelled in the role of Bhadrakali and also as Siva in the disguise of an old Brahmin who visits Sathi during her penance in order to test the intensity of her devotion. RLV Pramod’s presentation of the priest was lively, but betrayed his lack of familiarity with the details of the ritual. In response to the explosion of Daksha’s fury towards Siva, Indra, enacted by Kalamandalam Mahesh, simply translated the two lines of the concerned padam into gestural language sans emotional involvement. Siva being the hero of the play, the connoisseurs expected much more than what the young artiste Kalamandalam Sudeep could do in that role.
Rendition by Kalamandalam Babu Namboothiri and Kalamandalam Vinod of the padams and quatrains of Irayimman Thampi was commendable on account of its tonal clarity and context-sensitivity which provided it mellifluousness and force appropriate to the action on the stage and the mindscape of the character. Rendering of the portion ‘ Ennude paanigrahanam Indu choodan cheyyenam…’ in Sreeragam proved appropriately emotional. With a little more care they could have, however, made their performance flawless from the literary point of view too.
Kalamandalam Balasundaran and Kalanilayam Krishnakumar on the chenda and Kalamandalam Venukkuttan and Sreekanteswaram Mohanachandran Potti on the maddalam rose to the occasion at every point of the performance. The programme was organised under the aegis of Drisyavedi.
