“There are two things inseparable from Krishna -- Radha and Brindavan”, said the voiceover and a teenage Krishna clad in Pitambar, wearing a peacock feather on crown appeared on the stage.
A petite Radha among a flock of dainty Gopikas and a herd of cows with the clanging of bells followed. Just when the mood of Brindavan was set, Krishna and Radha broke into a sudden hip hop dance for ‘Dhoom machale…’ Surely many in the audience would have found it bizarre!
During the 2.5 hour show, many more Bollywood hit numbers from Lagaan, Dhoom 2 and Jodha Akbar ushered in an innovative fusion. It was an absolute thrill to watch nimble-footed dancers combine classical, folk and contemporary styles and dance to English dialogues and Hindi songs.
Krishna’s life story was most enjoyably portrayed by Shobana and her team of 22 female dancers who tried to repackage India’s most popular icon of mythology and history. The creative performance was an attempt to understand Krishna as the naughty child, the eternal lover, the formidable warrior and statesman.
Entertaining with a complete new age blend, the dance drama progressed into the smaller stories woven around the character of Krishna and built into a spectacular work of bright colours and perfect lighting, shimmering costumes, brilliant make-up, ace choreography and formidable formations – all played out against a minimalist set. It created the ideal frames straight out of glossy art calendars.
Through interesting interludes of dance and dialogues, the musical narrated the significant tales – one by one – from Makkhan Chor to Kaliya Nardan and Kansa vadan. Even as Hindustani bhajans and mellifluous theme songs made for an eclectic mix in the background, the Rasleela on stage was as much accentuated by the sharp twists and turns and effortless gyrations, so characteristic of modern day Bollywood dance, as the flowing movements of Kathak, the crispy adavus of Bharatnatyam spiced up with a thumka here and there. If Shobana, the brain behind the musical, stood out for her elegance, grace and flair playing Krishna, each of the other performers too matched up to her. Shobana’s daughter played a couple of tiny roles too.
With carefully chosen songs and soundtracks designed by Resul Pookutty, the crew dished up more than a dozen amazing dance sequences, which were no doubt more modern but with a classical restraint and formalism. Glittering in golden sequins and striking hues of red, yellow, blue and green, the costumes for the players were splendidly curated. If anything disappointed, it was the audio system that failed to deliver crisp and loud the pre-recorded dialogues mouthed by well known Bollywood and Kollywood stars including Surya, Radhika, Shabana Azmi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Milind Soman... The slide show in the background carried relevant and important texts and pictures but was not of much help for the audiences seated in far aisles of the auditorium.
Stringing together the important anecdotes on a canvas of Vrindavan and Mathura to battle ground Kurukshetra, the musical earnestly tried to speak out clearly about Krishna as the lover, the teacher and the philosopher. Though some may have found the treatment of the subject chosen and the format to present it debatable, the sheer visual lustre, the futuristic approach, Shobana’s engaging star power and the entire troupe’s effortless presentation will surely remain in everybody’s mind for long. And of course, not to forget Krishna is all about life and caring that embraces an entire culture’s beliefs. By attempting to articulate the near-ineffable, Shobana scored.
