More than a year after it premièred in the city, the play Makaradhwajan , written and directed by journalist-turned-theatre activist Prasanth Narayanan, will be staged again, today, with “a new treatment to make it more relatable to audiences.” Prasanth who has written 26 plays, including the hit Sanskrit drama Chayamukhi , starring actors Mohanlal and Mukesh in the lead, comes back to the labyrinths of mythology for the play. This time around he chooses a two-liner from the Valmiki Ramayana, the tale a young monkey, Makaradhwajan, gatekeeper of nether world and son of celibate sage and mighty warrior Hanuman.
According to legend, Marakadhwajan is born to a ‘sea creature’ (here, a mermaid, Makari) when she inadvertently becomes impregnated by the Monkey God after she swallows a drop of perspiration that falls from him, while he was flying across the oceans.
Hanuman, who comes to the rescue of Rama and Lakshmana, abducted and held captive in the nether world by Pathala Ravana, is stopped from entering by Makaradhwajan. Impressed by his valour, Hanuman asks about his parents, only to learn that the young monkey with four arms is his own son!
“It was incidental that I took up mythology, once again. The play is the result of five years work, travelling the length and breadth of the country for research into the heart of the legend. I even went to the temples of Marakadhwajan in Gujarat,” says Prasanth, in his typical idiomatic Malayalam, in between the rehearsals for the play in the city.
With the myth in the background and “staying true to his principles of exploring the subtle nuances of contemporary life through the prism of myths and legends,” the director has woven a contemporary tale, exploring social issues/dilemmas such as abandonment, alienation and identity crisis in the youth of today, besides portraying new-age womanhood in different ways.
“Though born without love or knowledge of either parent, Makaradhwajan has inherited immense strength but he is emotionally orphaned and flawed. Makaradhwajan is very like the modern youth. He is left to deal with his energy and potential, while his father goes ahead to fulfil his own commitments and his mother returns to her world deep inside the sea. Makaradhwajan, severed from his own past and future, is left to guard himself from his own present,” explains Prasanth.
Senior artiste of National School of Drama Repertory Company Ajeet Singh Palawat and his wife, Ipshita Chakraborty Singh, who was a senior artiste with the company, play the roles of Hanuman and Makari, respectively, while Anoop S.K.M., assistant professor at Government Engineering College, Barton Hill, plays the role of Makaradhwajan.
“Ipshita, a Bengali actor, who is playing the role for the first time, learnt the dialogues in Malayalam in four days,” says Prasanth, clearly impressed with his actors. However, that’s not why he calls the production ‘an Indian play.’ “I have evolved the play text using traditional theatrical art forms such as Kathakali and Yakshagana, besides folk art forms such as Villadichanpattu and Sopanasangeetham. The play is not dialogue-oriented and I leave it to the audience to interpret it in their own ways,” he says.
Makaradhwajan, presented by Agra Theatres, will be staged at the Open Air Auditorium at Vyloppilly Samskriti Bhavan at 6.30 p.m.
