The idea for Vivek Vijayakumaran’s Bhima took root in 2011, and has come to fruition this year. Vivek speaks of the journey of creating his Bhima and his tryst with Kutiyattam, a classical theatre form from Kerala with a history of more than 2000 years..
“I got introduced to Kutiyattam in 2009 at a workshop for source of performance energy in Adi Shakti. After that, I got interested in training in that art form,” says Vivek. Speaking about how he got interested in the story of Bhima, Vivek says: “I happened to be a part of the book reading of Ashok Malhotra’s Child Man . I read Bhima’s part. Bhima is a mythological story and Kutiyattam also tells mythological stories. I thought the two could come together well.”
In 2012, Vivek further trained in Kutiyattam with the support of the Inlaks India Theatre Award, 2012 at Irinjalakuda, under Sooraj Nambiar and G. Venu.
“2012 was essentially a year of training. I was interested in seeing how a contemporary actor’s body can take from that art form and make it accessible.”
“I visited Kanhailal Heinsman in Manipur. I visited him three more times. He has derived actor training methodology from different forms. I discussed my roadblocks with him and he was a great mentor.”
Vivek was initially in search of a director. “I wanted somebody who would knew enough about Kutiyattam.” But towards the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014, he started developing problems in his body. “I was diagnosed with severe Vitamin D deficiency.” Vivek then visited his teacher in Kerala for 10 days to see if he could withstand any training.
Gradually, Vivek regained his strength and continued with greater vigour on Bhima . “I would like to mention Veenapani Chawla’s name. She had done a play on Bhima and I spoke to her about her journey as well. Last year, in March, there was a dramaturgy symposium at Jagriti Theatre, where I listened to Veenapani maám. That gave me the confidence to go ahead without a director.”
The play took shape by and by, with theatre personalities such as Sachin Gurjale, Swetanshu Bora and Anish Victor coming on board. “I wanted live music to be a part of the performance. Also Kutiyattam has live music. I wanted music that would enhance the actor’s performance. I wanted someone who knows about percussion and at the same time, is an actor. Sachin also came with me to Kerala to train for 10 days. For the performance, the djembe is the main instrument. Since November it has been continuous work. I worked with Anish on lights.
The performance is a combination of body, sound, light and text. Anish has made lights specifically for the performance. Swetanshu wrote the text. Aruna Manjunath helped with the design elements and worked with Surabhi Vashist for costumes. Lakshmi Menon and Parthasarthi have assisted Anish with lights.”
The essence of the performance, Vivek adds, is to explore the human side of Bhima. “He is a physically strong man yet emotionally vulnerable. A man who gave himself totally into all his relationships truly and fully. A man who had a rationale of his own life yet fails to find his own convictions. A man whose essential make up is primitive or primal but lived mostly in the context of the civilised. A man who is imprisoned by his own image.”
While Vivek seeks to make Kutiyattam accessible to the viewer, he has retained the principles of Kutiyattam.
“My teacher, Sooraj Nambiar under whom I trained was very open to open the breaking the art form; not in the sense of breaking it for the sake of it. I have a lot of respect for the art form and for my teacher. I have stayed true to Kutiyattam. The objective of this project has been to innovate and arrive at an physical expression which is derived from Kutiyattam , where the principle for breaking the inherent codifications in the form has been to make it more accessible to an urban audience. While retaining the spirit and soul of the form but changing the externalization of it and this project is just the first step in that direction.”
Bhima is Our Theatre’s fourth production. The project is supported by The New Voices Arts Project and Shoonya - Centre for Art and Somatic Practices.
It will be performed on April 17, 18 and 19 at Shoonya - Centre for Art and Somatic Practices , Lal Bagh Road at 7.30 pm.
Tickets are priced at Rs. 200 and are available on bookmyshow.com or call 9886299609.
